


I need him here with me

by ihavenoexcuse4this



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bonding, Brotherly Love, Fights, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Liam-centric, Lilo friendship, OT5 Friendship, Protective Louis, Sad Liam, Sick Liam, Sickfic, ziam friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-04 17:23:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 29,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4146267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihavenoexcuse4this/pseuds/ihavenoexcuse4this
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam gets sick on tour and wants Zayn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Fanfic ever and my first language is not English so please just skip it if you don't like it.

Louis sighed as he flopped down onto his bed. It was currently 11 pm and they had just finished their second show in Cardiff. The hotel they were staying in had somehow messed up their booking so they had to stay in a double room together. They decided that Louis and Liam shared as well as Harry and Niall. It wasn’t a big problem, because he and Liam got on well and he was sure Niall and Harry would think so too. He would never admit it, but it was nice to have a roommate again. In the last few months they had always stayed in single rooms and while it was nice to have some privacy, he missed the sleepovers he and his boys had back in the X-factor era. He looked in the direction of the bathroom, where Liam was in. In this moment the door opened and Liam emerged. “Payno. Ready for a night out?”  
Liam looked a bit lost for a moment, then he shook his head. “Nah, I think I’ll go to sleep early tonight mate.”  
Liam was feeling unwell since he woke up. He barely got through the show tonight and he most likely would not survive a party right now. All he wanted to do was to sleep until he felt less like death again. He thought about telling Louis but no, this was not an option right now. No need to worry his boys. He just hoped that the feeling would go away until tomorrow.  
Louis rolled his eyes. “You are no fun. C’mon Liam.”  
Liam sighed. “I`m really tired. You should call it a night too, to be honest. Was an exhausting week and some sleep wouldn’t hurt you.”  
Louis rolled his eyes. “Fine let’s stay here. Partying alone sucks too. You are really lame today Liam.”  
“’M not in the mood for a fight Louis”, Liam mumbled.  
“I’m not in the mood to stay in a room with a drag but here I am now.”  
That hurt - Probably more than Louis wanted it to, but Liam always got very emotional when he was not well. Liam swallowed hard. “Please just leave me alone man.”  
And that was it. Liam flopped down on his bed, pulled his blanket over his shoulders and was out in less than 10 minutes.  
Louis, who was still pissed at his band mate, scrolled through his Twitter-, Instagram- and Facebookfeed before he went to sleep as well. 

Liam woke up at – he glanced at his phone – 2:41 am. He furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what woke him up in the middle of the night. He sat up a little, when he was suddenly hit with a blinding headache. Which was also when he realized that he was freezing cold and clammy. “Ugh please no…”, Liam mumbled, because getting sick was the last thing he needed right now. They had a busy schedule at the moment and no one could be missing, especially after they had already lost Zayn. Liam winced a little at the thought of Zayn, because he really missed him. It was difficult for everyone to lose a band member in the middle of their tour but after the Twitter disaster he could not even talk to Louis about Zayn and it hurt. All he wanted was to have a good relationship with his boys, and it felt as if Zayn hated him, which was most likely not the case, but he also had not talked to the boy since March.  
He quickly laid down again and closed his eyes, hoping that he would be fine again in the Morning. 

He knew that he wouldn’t be that lucky as soon as he woke up again at 5:27, feeling a hundred times worse than he did just a few hours ago. Liam sat up, breathing heavily. He felt awful and he didn’t want to deal with this alone. He looked across the room and spotted Louis’ sleeping form on the other bed. He already felt really bad about waking the older boy but he was a bit dazed from the high fever and Louis was the nearest one who could comfort him right now. “Lou’?”  
Louis didn’t react. “Louis wake up please.”, Liam whimpered.  
The older boy stirred a bit. “Let me sleep Liam.”  
“No please, I…”  
Louis sharp voice cut Liam’s weak one off. “Would you shut up now? At first you’re being a boring knob and want me to sleep and now you wake me up at-“ He glanced at his phone. “5:31 in the Morning?! What’s wrong with you Liam?”  
Liam did not even get to give an answer to that, because after his tirade, Louis turned around and was asleep again shortly after that.  
Liam’s eyes filled with tears. He sat up a bit more and whimpered as his head protested. He knew that Louis could be like that sometimes but he thought that he was more important to the older boy. They did not get along that good a few years ago but now Liam would count Louis to his best friends and it felt awful that he seemed not to care, even if he was still mad after their argument earlier that evening. Liam stood up shakily. He quickly grabbed his nightstand when a bout of dizziness overtook him. He took a deep breath and waited until the feeling went away. He wondered what he should do now. He could go to Niall and Harrys room, Niall wouldn’t mind but he was not sure if Harry would be thrilled if he would knock on their door at 5 in the Morning. He probably wouldn’t but Liam could not be sure. The younger boy was confusing and secretive about his thoughts sometimes. Liam tried to think of other possibilities he had, but his brain was empty.  
Zayn. Zayn always knew what to do when something bothered him. That was is. He needed Zayn now. Liam grabbed his phone from his nightstand. He just unlocked his phone when panic overtook him. He hadn’t talked to Zayn since March. Liam had avoided talking to him for the last few months, but now, in his delirious state, he needed to hear the voice of his former band mate.  
Carefully, so that he would not wake Louis again, he strode out of the room, his phone clutched tightly in his left hand.  
Liam closed the hotel door and leaned against it, breathing heavily. He was shaking as he unlocked his phone. He was not thinking clear and he would never call Zayn if he would not have an 40 degree fever, but he had and now he wanted all the comfort Zayn had to offer. He clumsily scrolled through his contacts until Zayns name popped up. Liam took a deep breath as he dialed the number of his former best mate for the first time in nearly 3 months. The chance that Zayn would pick up was not very big, but Liam was still a sobbing mess as soon as the voicemail went off and an electronic voice recited Zayns number. The fact that it was early in the Morning and Zayn was probably asleep and wouldn’t pick up even if he actually WANTED to talk him. Liam sobs were growing uncontrollably and soon his whole body was shaking with them.  
Liam was not even aware of the sound of an opening door and the footsteps which were following until he felt a warm presence beside him. “Liam?! What happened??”  
Harry knelt beside him and eyed him concerned. Liam wanted to say something but the only thing that escaped his lips was another chocked sob.  
Harry seemed to get more and more nervous. “What’s wrong Liam?”  
Liam just whimpered and threw himself into Harrys arms. The other boy let out a surprised yelp but wrapped his arms tightly around him and this was everything Liam needed right now.  
“You’re burning up Li.” Harry sounded somehow scared and Liam felt the others arms tighten around his shivering frame. “What are you doing out here Liam?”  
“Dunno…”, Liam whispered. “Wanted to call Zayn”  
Harrys raised his eyebrows. “You … Wanted to call Zayn?” He suddenly seemed very alarmed. “You know that he is not here right?”  
Liam nodded. Harrys heart broke a little because of course Liam would want to call Zayn when he was feeling unwell, even if they had not seen the other boy in a long time… On the other side, Louis stayed in the same room and Harry was sure that he oldest of the band had the same comforting effect on Liam which Zayn had. “Why didn’t you wake Louis? Or Niall and me?”  
“Tried to wake Lou’ up…”, Liam mumbled.  
“Tried?”  
Liam sobbed again. “H-he got mad and w-went to sleep again.”  
Harrys looked angry for a second, but he tried to stay calm in front of Liam. “C’mon let’s get you back in your room all right?”  
“Don’t wanna wake Lou’ up again.”  
Harry shook his head and muttered something Liam could not quite understand, then he stood up and carefully pulled Liam on his feet. The other boy swayed a little and Harry quickly stabilized him, getting more and more scared by Liam’s condition. “You’ve got the room keys Li?”  
Liam shook his head and Harry sighed, before he pounded on the door, frantically apologizing to Liam, who grabbed his head, whimpering in pain.  
A few seconds later the door was pulled open and a drowsy looking Louis stood in the door. “What the fuck?” His eyes fell on Liam and his face softened a little. He turned to Harry. “What’s wrong with him?”  
Harry tightened his hold on Liam protectively. “Found him in front of your door. He has a fever, I don’t know anything else yet.”  
Louis placed his hand on Liam’s forehead and his eyes went wide. “Shit!”  
Harry and Louis quickly led Liam to his bed and the boy collapsed on it in an exhausted heap. Harry pulled the blanket over Liam’s shivering frame and turned to Louis. “We don’t have medications yet but I will call Paddy later so that he can get something. We’ll just let him sleep for the time being.”  
Louis nodded distantly. “I was so mean when he woke me up earlier. I feel so stupid. I should have noticed that something is wrong when he went to sleep at 9 but I was just pissed.”  
Harry patted him on the shoulder. “You know how stubborn Liam can be. No one of us noticed.” He made a short pause as is he had to think about whether or not he should tell Louis the following fact. “He tried to call Zayn.”  
Louis furrowed his eyebrows. “He what?”  
Harry nodded. “But he was totally out of it. I don’t think he knew what he was doing, his fever is really high.”  
Louis sniffled a bit. “So he was so desperate that he even called him? Him? The one who hurt him so much in the last few months? Who has not even bothered to call? Just because I was too selfish to listen to him? Oh god, please tell me this is a dream.”  
“You could not know Louis. Don’t blame yourself for this.”  
“He NEEDED me Harry. Liam would never admit feeling anything but great and today he felt so bad that he would even wake me up. I am supposed to be his best friend, not Zayn!”  
Harry knew in which direction this was going. “You still are Lou’. He was just delirious and Zayn was always there when he was unwell at the beginning. He is vulnerable right now and his feelings are surfacing.”  
Louis nodded a bit hesitant. “I guess…” He looked over at Liam, who was whimpering in his sleep, his face ashen with just the flush of a fever on his cheeks. “You should really call Paddy before this gets out of control. I’ll stay here. Never going to leave his side again to be honest.”  
Harry gave him a sad smile, pulled his phone out of his pocket and strode out of the room as quietly as he could.  
Louis sat down on the edge of Liam’s bed and carefully pushed a damp fringe of hair out Liam’s face.  
Just as he wanted to get a cold cloth from the bathroom Liam’s phone rang. Louis flinched and searched for it frantically in the whole room to avoid waking Liam up. As he finally found it his heart nearly missed a beat.  
The name ‘Zayn’ appeared on the bright display.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo here is another chapter. I hope there are some people out there who enjoy this Fic as I feel really insecure about it somethimes. There is still more to come but I don't know how much yet ... :)

Louis panicked a little, because what was he supposed to do now? He had not talked to Zayn in a long time and he wanted it to stay like that to be honest. He did not feel ready for a conversation at this very moment, but then his gaze fell on Liam. The younger boy seemed to need Zayn and as much as it pained Louis, he did not want to let him down again, so he needed to pull himself together, take this fucking call and act responsible for once.   
Louis took a deep breath and pressed the accept button on Liam’s phone. “Yeah?” Louis hoped that he sounded cooler than he felt, because he felt more nervous than he did just before they had to go on stage right now and he sure as hell did not want Zayn to know.  
There was a pause on the other line. “Louis?”  
Louis swallowed. This was the first time since March for him to hear Zayns voice and he suddenly felt more angry than anything else. “Obviously.”  
Zayn groaned on the other line. “I don’t have time for your shit Louis. I get it, you’re mad but trying to call me at 5 am in the Morning is something little kids do. Is Liam in this too, or is your phone just broken or something? Can’t you all not just leave me alone?”  
“Liam needs you”, Louis chocked out, because he was doing this for Liam and there was no way in hell that he would go on a full blown rant now. This was his and Zayns problem and they would somehow solve it one day (hopefully) but not right now, because right now Liam was much more important.  
“What?”  
“Liam called you at 5 am.”  
“He- What? I have not talked to him in months, why would he call me?”, Zayn sounded a little bit bitter about this but Louis decided not to mention it. Decided not to make a big scene about how there was nothing wrong with Zayns hands and how he also could have reached out to them if he wanted to.   
“I have no idea why he would want you of all people.”, Louis knew that this sounded a bit harsh, but he really tried alright? “He has a really high fever at the moment and I think he is delirious or something like that. You were his best friend for over four years, how can it surprise you that he misses you?”  
“Liam’s sick?”, Zayn sounded more alert now. “I thought you two are close now? Why aren’t you helping him?”  
Louis smiled a bit at first, because this clearly indicated that Zayn had watched some of the interviews they had, but then Zayns statement hit him and he felt really offended by it. “We ARE close and of course the boys and me are helping him too-” He paused a bit, searching for the right words to say. “But he also has a 40 degree fever as far as I can tell and sometimes people act weird if that happens.”  
“He - I – What am I supposed to do now? I’m in Bradford!”  
“How should I know this?”, Louis whispered frantically, because Liam began to stir and he did not want to wake him up. “I’m freaking out here as well. I don’t even know what I am supposed to do man.” Louis was still mad and everything, but talking to Zayn felt… right… in a really strange way.   
“Lou’?”, a weak voice mumbled and Louis swore under his breath, because now he had to explain Liam who he was talking to. The boy also needed the sleep and Louis felt bad for waking him up, even if it was accidentally.   
“Hold on.”, he said to Zayn, before he strode over to Liam’s bed. “Yeah Li?”  
The younger boy looked at him with glassy, unfocused eyes. “Who r u talkin’ to?”  
Louis bit his lip, considering whether or not he should tell Liam, but he eventually decided that the younger boy deserved the truth. “Zayn called back…”  
Liam’s breathing got faster. “He did?”  
“’Course he did mate.”  
“Can I talk to him?...”   
Liam looked so shy that Louis wondered if the boy really thought that he would forbid him a conversation with Zayn. “Sure Li-“, Louis stopped himself, remembering that Zayn was still on the line. He did not want to force Zayn into anything after all. “I mean, if Zayn wants to…”  
“’Course I do!” Zayns answer came so fast that he startled Louis a little. His voice also sounded a bit offended, like he was mad that Louis could even believe that he would not want to talk to Liam.   
“Okay then.”, Louis mumbled and it was a bit difficult to hand the phone over to Liam, because he wanted to be the one Liam needed, not Zayn, the one who had made Liam cry so much in the last months. Louis made sure to set the phone on loudspeaker, because he wanted to know what was going on and to make sure that Zayn did not say something mean. He watched Liam as he clutched his phone tightly to his ear, tears already falling from his eyes, and Louis hated how vulnerable Liam looked.   
“Zayn.”, Liam whispered.  
“Liam, are you okay?”  
That was enough to send Liam over the edge. He let out a strangled sob. “I just miss you.”  
There was a long pause and Zayns voice sounded strangled when he began to talk again. “I miss you too mate.”, he mumbled.   
Louis watched the call quietly and he was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. Liam let out another quiet sob. “I want you to be here.”  
Louis took a deep breath to calm himself, because that hurt. Liam was supposed to want him. It was a stupid thing to be jealous of but Louis could not help it. He was always there for Liam in the last three months (and way before but especially now) and it was unfair that Liam just threw him away like a dirty tissue just because he has messed up once this morning. He was not mad at Liam, because the boy would probably act different if he was healthy but it still hurt like hell.  
He heard Zayn sighing. “You know that this is not possible at the moment, but you can call me at any time if you want to. I will always be here for you, I promise.”  
Liam looked a bit lost for a moment than his expression turned to a bitter, disappointed one. “’Course I can. Bye Zayn.”  
Liam shakily ended the call and handed the phone back to Louis. The older boy was a bit confused by Liam’s sudden mood change. “Li? You okay?”  
Liam shrugged. “That’s what he said in March you know? He said that he won’t be out of my life just like that. He broke his promise once. I just - you know… I just wanted him to call.”   
Louis stomach tightened, because Liam sounded so broken and he did not know what to say. He just knew that Liam looked exhausted and needed to sleep now. Louis placed the phone on Liam’s nightstand and sat down on the bed. “Just sleep for a bit mate, you look awful.”  
“’M okay, don’t worry”, Liam mumbled and was out right after it.   
Louis sighed and scrolled a bit trough his phone as the door opened and Harry entered the room he was followed by a nervous looking Niall. As soon as they got a glimpse of Liam their expression changed into one of concern.   
Harry turned to Louis. “Paddy is on his way to the pharmacy. He gave me this thermometer and told us to call someone if his temperate is higher than 40 degrees. Have you found out his symptoms yet?”  
Louis shook his head and mumbled something like ‘Zayn called back.’, while Niall opened the package of the thermometer. Both of the two boys turned around quickly. “Zayn- what?!”, Niall exclaimed.   
Louis nodded grimly. “He upset Liam pretty bad, I don’t think that he’ll come over or something. Acted a bit like a dick.”  
Harry looked broody but Niall was just confused. “Upset? Coming over? Why was Zayn even calling?”  
Louis swallowed, not happy that he had to talk about Zayn again. “Liam called him this Morning. He called back about half an hour ago and talked to Liam. He basically told him that he’s not able to do something. You should have seen Liam’s face. Luckily he went back to sleep not long after, I hope he does not remember.”  
“And how are you?”, Harry asked him, deciding not to go further into this conversation for now. Louis smiled a bit, because Harry was so good at reading him.  
“We had a short chat but he is kind of a twat. I’m fine, just worried ‘bout Li.”  
Niall and Harry exchanged a knowing look because this was so Louis – ignoring his feelings as long as he could. He really needed to sort some things out with Zayn and maybe this was the only good thing about Liam getting sick. Maybe they all had to face Zayn now, which was something Niall and Harry were absolutely looking forward to but also something which made Louis really uncomfortable.   
Niall sighed. “We’ll talk ‘bout this later. We need to wake Li now so that we can take his temperature.”  
Louis grimaced. “Is this really necessary? He fell asleep only half an hour ago and he really needs this.”  
Niall bit his lip guiltily and Harry sighed. “We need to know what we’re dealing with. He can sleep on right after this.”  
Louis groaned. “All right, let’s do it.”  
Harry hesitantly went over to Liam and placed his hand on the boys shoulder. “Li? You have to wake up.”   
Liam stirred a bit. Harry shook his shoulder gently. “C’mon mate, you have to work with us for a bit now.”  
Liam groaned. “Lemme sleep.” He tried to turn around but Louis and Niall quickly helped Harry to pull the boy in a sitting position.   
Harry bit his lip at Liam’s exhausted expression and slipped the thermometer in his mouth. “There we go. Just for a minute Li, you can go right back to sleep after that.”  
The boys waited impatiently until the thermometer beeped. Louis was the first one to pull it out. “39.8 degrees.”, he mumbled, his eyes widening.   
Harry and Niall looked at the number in concern. Harry was the first one to react. “I’d say we let him sleep ‘til Paddy comes back and how he is after he took some medication. I think it’s just that high because he had such a busy day yesterday and got almost no rest at all. Let’s just not freak out.”, he whispered.  
Niall supported Liam who tried to lie down again. “Sounds like a plan.”  
Louis watched Liam as the younger boy closed his eyes, looking pale and fragile. “Yeah. I just want him to get better.”  
Harry smiled sadly. “Same mate.”, he looked around for a second. “Let’s grab something to eat. I think Liam won’t wake up in the next hours.”  
Niall looked undetermined, but nodded nonetheless. “Alright. I’m starving. You comin’ Lou?”  
Louis shook his head. “No way. I’m not leaving his side.”  
Harry sighed. “He will be fine for now. You don’t have to stay here.”  
“I don’t want him to wake up and think that I let him down again. Just bring along something for us.”  
Harry nodded hesitantly. “Okay, just don’t worry too much about him Lou’.”  
Louis nodded absently while watched as Liam’s breathing evened out and Niall and Harry left their room as quietly as possible.   
He was alone with Liam for about forty minutes, when the door was opened and Niall tiptoed in. He placed a bowl of cereal in front of Louis. “I brought you some Coco Pops mate, thought you’d like ‘em.”, Niall whispered. “Also brought Liam toast and these little packets of spreads. I could not decide which one so I just got a bit of everything.”  
Louis smiled. “Thank you Nialler. Have you lost Harry or-“  
Niall laughed softly. “He is waiting for Paddy in the lobby.”  
Louis was relieved, because that meant that Liam would receive help soon. “Nice.”, he mumbled, already digging into his cereal. He had not realized how hungry he was ‘til now.   
They sat in silence for a few minutes while Louis ate his Coco Pops.   
Niall cleared his throat. “You alright?”  
Louis took a shuddering breath. “I don’t know, there’s so much going on at the moment.”  
Niall patted him on the shoulder. “I know, this is not easy for any of us. I’m sure Zayn will come ‘round as soon as he is ready. It’s hard for him too.”  
Louis expression got a sullen look. “I don’t even want to talk to him right now you know? So many things happened and-“  
“Those things are exactly what you need so sort out.”, Niall interrupted him softly.  
Louis shrugged. He knew that Niall was right, but this was not something he wanted to hear at the moment. “I guess…”, he mumbled just as the door opened and Paddy strode in together with Harry.  
Paddy was carrying a big plastic bag and seemed very stressed. He turned to the three boys. “I’ve got some fever reducers - and a whole bunch of other things, but I suppose we should give him those first.”  
Louis gave a resigned nod. “Alright. Let’s wake him up again.”  
Niall smiled slightly at him. “He’ll feel better afterwards.”  
Paddy gently shook Liam awake. He boy whimpered as he looked around with glassy, unfocused eyes. “Zayn?”  
Louis felt his stomach drop but luckily Paddy showed no emotion over this. “No, sorry buddy. Just me, but I’ve got some things that’ll make you feel good again hopefully.”  
Liam whimpered again as he tried so sit up. Niall rushed to his side and helped him while Harry poured the right dose of medicine in the plastic cup and handed it to Paddy.   
The bodyguard sat down on the bed. “Here, drink this.” He turned to Louis. “He needs to eat something with this.”  
Louis quickly spread some butter on a piece of cold toast which Liam ate slowly after he swallowed all of the liquid medicine and laid down again sleepily.   
Paddy stood up after Liam fell asleep again. “You good boys?”  
Harry nodded. “Yeah, we’ve got this. Thank you again Paddy.”  
The bodyguard smiled. “Good. Remember to check his temperature again when he wakes up again and call me if you need something.”   
The boys nodded. Paddy left the room after that and the they were on their own again.  
“So…” Louis sat down on the sofa. “What do we do now?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter. Hope y'all like it! :)

Harry sighed. “Now we’re going to talk.”  
Louis raised his eyebrows. “Talk about what?”  
Harry and Niall shared a meaningful glance and Louis began to shake his head violently. “NO. Absolutely not. We are not going to talk about Zayn.”  
Niall bit his lip. “Louis, we were in a band with him for almost 5 years, this is not going to end like this just because you are too stubborn to sort things out.”  
“How long have you two planned to do this conversation?”  
Harry hemmed awkwardly. “Since about three weeks… We just thought that this is the ideal moment because- you know… The phone call and stuff.”  
Louis furrowed his eyebrows, but then his expression softened. “Thank you lads, I really appreciate this but Liam is sick and I’m not in the mood to talk about Zayn. Besides- you know- I’m 23 years old and I need to get my shit together by myself, so please let me decide for myself when I’m ready to talk or let alone reconcile with Zayn. I’m not ready yet alright?”  
Well, his was surprising, because Louis hardly ever said what bothered him that openly, even if it was not the thing they wanted him to. “You are right Lou’. We are sorry, just talk to someone as soon as you are ready alright?”, Harry mumbled.   
Louis smiled. “I will, promise.” His gaze fell on Liam and his smile fell. “He looks so fragile and sickly.”  
Niall nodded. “Yeah. I have not seen him this sick since- I have never seen him sick ever to be honest.”  
Louis sighed bitterly. “This whole drama nagged at him more than he let us know didn’t it?”  
Harry nodded with a sad, thoughtful expression. “He is even worse at this than you are isn’t he? He just keeps going until he is exhausted to the limit, something like this happens and he can’t contain his feelings anymore.”  
Louis put his head in his head and groaned.   
“What’s wrong?”, Niall asked.  
“This is just so fucking overwhelming. I mean Liam is sick and then Zayn called and I- this is so unfair okay? I am Liam’s best friend now, he was not supposed to call Zayn.”  
Harry softly patted Louis’ arm, glad that Louis was opening up a bit. “Lou-“  
“No Harry, you know that he wanted to wake me up. I acted like a moron when I should have been there for my best friend and then he called Zayn. And you know what’s the fucking worst in this whole thing? Zayn hurt him again. This would’ve never happened if I had acted like a friend instead of a stupid, offended child.”  
“Louis this would have happened sooner or later anyways so please don’t be so hard to yourself.”, Harry told him fiercely.   
Louis let out a sob. “I’m just afraid that I lost him to Zayn over this. That I lost his trust.”  
“Liam loves you Lou’. He called Zayn, but I don’t think he would choose him over you.”  
“How can you be sure about this?”, Louis whispered.  
“Because you’ve been there the whole time. Zayn has hurt him so much more. He wasn’t there for him since March, do you really think Liam would forgive him just because you let him down once? Think about this logically mate.”  
Louis nodded a bit more positive. “I hope you’re right.”  
“’Course he is.”, Niall smiled.   
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, then Harry stood up. “Let’s go into our room and watch a movie or something until Liam wakes up.”  
Louis stared and him. “Are you nuts? I’m staying here.”  
Harry sighed. “Louis, it does not change anything even if you’re staying by his side. We would just wake him up if we would sit around here.”  
“It’s just- you know… What if he wakes up and no one is here? What if he thinks that I let him   
down again?”  
Niall shook his head. “You can’t stay here forever Lou’. He would not like it if you’d limit yourself for this and you know it. Let’s just have some fun mate.”  
Louis hesitated. “I don’t know…”  
Niall stood up as well and joined Harry. He waved Louis nearer. “C’mon mate. Let’s play a nice game of FIFA or something.”  
Louis got onto his feet but he still looked unsure. “We would hear him from the other room right?”  
Harry thought about Louis’ question for a moment. Niall and he could hear noises from other rooms pretty clear yesterday. “I think so, but he’ll be fine Lou’. We will check on him every hour or so alright?”  
This finally convinced Louis that he could probably leave the room for an hour to clear his head and get his mind off Zayn and Liam. He grinned weakly, nodded and finally followed Harry and Niall out of the room. He stopped abruptly as his gaze fell on Liam, because the boy seemed to get a bit uncomfortable and suddenly Louis was not sure if leaving was a good idea.   
Harry pulled him with them. “Hey” He made sure to took him into his eyes. “He will be fine.”  
Louis nodded slowly and followed his two band mates in their room.

They were in the middle of a game of FIFA when they heard the scream. It was muffled by the walls but they heard it very clear. It sounded absolutely frightened and a bit hoarse and there was no doubt that it came from Liam. Louis dropped his controller and jumped to his feet. He glanced at the clock and – FUCK – they had completely forgotten the time. Louis could almost feel the guilt weighting him down, feeling like a heavy stone in his stomach because, he let Liam down again.  
He sprinted out of the door, not even waiting for Niall and Harry and opened the door to Liam’s and his room as fast as he could.  
His heart skipped a beat as his gaze fell on Liam. The younger boy was drenched in sweat, his pale face outlined a sharp contrast to his flushed cheeks, tears were streaming down his cheeks and his eyes were looking around the room frantically.   
He looked a bit less panicky as he saw Louis, Niall and Harry standing in the doorway. “Lou’”, be whimpered.   
Louis was at his side in a second. Liam clung on him as if his life depended on it and Louis could not help but feel a bit proud that, yes, he was still the one Liam wanted when he was not well. The feeling that outweighed thought was pure concern, because he could literally feel the heat Liam radiated through his shirt as if he would be sitting next to a radiator. Liam was shaking with sobs and Louis tightened his hold on the younger boy. “What’s wrong Li’?  
Liam gasped for air. “He said- he said-“, was all he could get out before he was sobbing uncontrollably again.   
Louis looked at Niall and Harry for reassurance or anything they had to offer but they looked just as scared as he felt. Harry was the first one to react. He strode over to Liam and Louis. “Deep breaths Liam, you need to calm down and tell us what’s wrong.”  
Louis felt Liam tremble as he attempted to take deep, shuddering breathes.  
“He said that he hates me.”, Liam finally gasped.  
Louis was a little bit confused. “Who hates you Li’?”  
“Zayn- Zayn said- he-“, Liam was sobbing again.  
Niall was at Liam’s side now too. “It was just a dream mate, calm down please.”  
Liam whimpered again and shook his head. “Z…”  
Louis moved a bit to grab the bottle of water from Liam’s nightstand and felt Liam’s arms tightening around him. “NO!”, Liam’s voice was weak but still firm. “Please don’t leave me.”   
Louis smiled weakly. “Not going to leave you Li’”  
“You need to release Louis for a few seconds Liam, I need to check your temperature.”  
Louis knew that Harry was right but he could not help but feel a bit angry as Liam loosened his hold on him.   
Harry squeezed himself between him and Liam and Louis’ grumbled something, because this was his spot and as stupid as it sounded he did not want to give it to someone else even for a second. He knew that he acted like a jealous child but he felt very protective of Liam and he wanted to take care of the boy himself to make up for the Morning. He knew that the other two boys would do a great job too but he kind of wanted to be the one to lean on for Liam.  
He snapped out of his thoughts as he thermometer beeped. He focused his eyes on Harry. “And?”  
“39.6… It’s getting down at least.”, Harry tried to sound positive but his voice condemned that he had hoped for a better result.   
“This is not good right? Should we get him to a hospital or something like that?”, Niall whispered frantically but Liam seemed to hear him. “No… Please no hospital… ‘S just a fever.”  
Liam looked around and it seemed as if he did not see Louis for a second as the older boy stood behind Harry, which was panicking him. “Where is Lou’?”  
Louis quickly shoved himself in front of Harry again. “Right here mate. Told ya’ that I’m not goin’ to leave didn’t I?”  
Liam mumbled something unintelligent and wrapped his arms around Louis again.   
“You really are his rock aren’t ya’?”, Niall joked and Louis could not help but grin proudly at this.   
“I’m going to call Paddy now.”, Harry sighed and Niall jumped in. “I will join you mate, need to use the bathroom.”  
Harry pulled the door open and Niall and he left the room. Louis gently placed his hand on Liam’s burning forehead. “If you do something, you do it right don’t ya’?”, he joked weakly.  
Liam only gave him a halfhearted nod which let the smile on Louis face vanish. He sighed sadly. “So how are you mate?”  
Liam shrugged. “’M not feeling too good.”, he mumbled and Louis bit his lip because if Liam admitted something like that he must be feeling really bad.   
“What’s wrong?”  
Liam took a deep breath. “’M just so cold and achy and I dunno… My head hurts.”, he whispered.   
Louis sighed. “Do you feel like eating something?”  
Liam whimpered. “Head’s makin’ me nauseas.”  
Louis brushed his hand over Liam’s head, getting more and more concerned because Liam seemed totally out of it but that was probably because of his high fever. Louis was just glad that the younger boy had not mentioned Zayn till this point. “Well I think we should get some more drugs into you shouldn’t we?”  
Liam nodded sleepily. “Jus’ make it stop.”  
Louis sighed sadly. He turned to the hallway as the door opened. Harry came back in. “Paddy said that we should just give him more of the fever reducers and maybe a cold shower if his fever spikes again. I told Niall to bring some soup because the medication should not be taken on an empty stomach, he should be back soon.”  
Louis grimaced. “Let’s hope his fever does not spike thought.”  
Harry nodded as he poured some of the fever reducer in the plastic cup and handed it to Liam who swallowed it slowly.   
“I have the soup!”, Niall cheered quietly as he went into the room. Liam groaned. “Not hungry.”  
“He said that his headache is making him nauseas.”, Louis explained to Harry and Niall before he turned to Liam. “You will make yourself sick if you take the meds on an empty stomach. C’mon Li’ they’ll just help ya’ if you eat the soup like a good boy.”  
Liam whimpered softly but took the bowl of soup Niall handed him. He began to eat it slowly, grimacing every once in a while before the pushed to bowl away. “Can’t eat more, sorry.”, he mumbled.  
Harry smiled. “No need to apologize Li’, you ate enough, well done.”   
The boys watched as Liam sank down on his bed again, exhausted. “’M gonna sleep some more if that’s alright.”  
Harry patted him on his shoulder. “’Course.”  
As soon as Liam’s breathing evened out again Louis turned to Harry nervously. “He slept for 4 hours how can he still be tired?”  
“He’s sick, his body needs rest. This is normal.”  
Louis let out a forced laugh which made him feel a bit crazy and closed his eyes. “I’m just so worried, this is so fucking new and scary.”  
Niall hugged him gently. “Hey Lou’, we are concerned too, but there is no need to get this nervous about everything. He will be much better soon.”  
“Yeah, guess you’re right. I’m just not used to- you know… Seeing him like that.”  
Harry sighted. “I know, he is always there and handles everything and now he seems so… out of it.”  
Louis and Niall nodded in agreement.   
“Hey, it’s already 1 pm. You guys hungry?”  
“’M actually starving. What about you Lou’?”  
Louis shook his head. “You can grab something for me again but you know-“, he looked over to Liam. “I feel so uncomfortable with leaving him again.”  
“’Course, besides the dining room is really far away, it would be the best if someone would stay behind and watch him.”, Harry said thoughtfully. “But you already missed breakfast. I could stay here and you guys go to lunch. I’ll just order something from the room service.”  
“NO!”, Louis snapped before he could stop himself, startling Niall and Harry but thankfully not waking Liam. He cleared his throat awkwardly before he continued much more quiet. “I mean, I am totally fine with staying here.”

As Niall and Harry were gone Louis leaned back on the Couch. He was feeling a bit nervous, alone with a sick Liam, because what if something happened and he could not help? He sighed, fumbling his phone out of his pocket, hoping that Liam would be fine and that there would be no incident in the next hour or so.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is already another chapter, which I wrote really fast, I apologize in advance. I decided to post another one today already because I will probably not be able to post something in the next few days. Hope you enjoy!

Of course Louis was not that lucky because not even thirty minutes later he heard a quiet whimper coming from Liam’s bed. He got up as fast as he could, nearly knocking over a lamp in the progress. He swore to himself as he stabilized the lamp and when he looked up again he saw Liam scrambling to get out of his bed. “Li’?”  
He got no answer as Liam just sprinted to the bathroom and Louis finally understood what was going on. He groaned, because this was just his luck. He quickly followed Liam, who was already kneeing in front of the toilet. “Fuck.”  
Liam let out a strangled sob. “Make it stop, please.”, he cried and Louis could feel his heart shatter. He sat down behind Liam. “You’re going to be sick?”  
Liam whimpered. “I dunno… ‘M just so nauseas.”  
Louis bit his lip nervously. “Your stomach’s bothering you?”  
Liam shook his head slowly, whimpering again as he did. “’S jus’ a Migraine.”  
Louis felt bad for his best friend, because Liam and Migraines were a thing apparently. He used to get them in the X-factor, when he was overworked and worrying too much but at this time he and Louis were not the best friends, always fighting over everything. He remembered that Zayn always comforted Liam when he has had one back then and he often told the boys that they were awful. After the X-factor Liam had not had a another Migraine, just some headaches now and then, but never to the point where he had actually gotten sick. He could absolutely handle those by himself and Louis felt bad know, because he should have helped Liam in the X-factor house, then he would know what to do.   
Louis’ thoughts were interrupted by Liam, hunching over the toilet, retching. Louis did not really know what to do, so he just rubbed Liam’s back. “It’s alright Liam.”, he whispered.  
Liam sat back whimpering, after a few minutes, leaning heavily into Louis. The older boy held him tight, brushing some sweaty bangs out of Liam’s face. Louis got very concerned by Liam’s shallow breathing and the pained expression on the younger boys face. “Feelin’ better?”  
Liam whimpered. “’M not feelin’ sick anymore, but my head feels kind of bad.”  
Louis rolled his eyes, because ‘kind of bad’ meant that Liam probably still had a blasting Migraine. “I’ll check if Paddy got something for this too, and you should drink something too probably so that you don’t get dehydrated.”  
Louis stood up carefully, but was stopped when a weak hand grabbed his wrist. “No… please…”   
Louis sighed. “I will be back in less than 10 seconds mate, I just want to help you.”  
Liam whimpered again but let go of Louis’ hand.   
Louis sprinted into the other room to fetch everything he needed before heading back to the bathroom.   
He popped a pill out of the packet and handed it to Liam together with a bottle of water.”This should help. Drink as much as you can.”  
Liam nodded weakly, swallowed the pill and drank half of the bottle before handing it back to Louis. “I think we should check your temperate again too.”, Louis decided before sticking the thermometer into Liam’s mouth.   
He let his gaze wander over Liam, taking in his whole appearance. The younger boy was pale and sweaty and he seemed deliriously out of it. His eyes seemed unfocused and glassy and Louis could not help but be worried about him. He snapped out his thoughts as the thermometer beeped and pulled it out.  
Louis gasped. “Oh god.” Louis quickly tried to calm himself down, because the last thing he wanted was to freak Liam out by freaking out himself.  
40.1. He was not a doctor but he knew that this was not a healthy temperature for someone who was not a teapot. He tried frantically to think of something he could do when he remembered that Harry said something about a cold shower earlier. He grimaced, because Liam would not like this for sure.   
“Liam? I’m really sorry but we have to get you into the shower.”  
Liam closed his eyes exhaustedly. “Mhh”, he whispered.   
Louis gently pulled Liam to his feet and steadied the younger boy as he swayed. “Woah, take it easy mate.”  
Liam leaned into him with his entire weight and sobbed quietly. Louis held him tightly. “Shh calm down mate, you’ll feel better in a few minutes when the meds kick in. We just need to get your fever down.”  
Liam hid his face in Louis’ shirt and sighed loudly. Louis sighed as well. He awkwardly pulled Liam’s shirt up as he tried to get it over his head.  
Liam looked at him shocked. “What r u doin’?!”  
“We cannot put you in the shower with all your clothes on, can we?”  
Liam’s glassy eyes closed exhaustedly as Louis pulled his shirt over his head. “Oh.”, he whispered and his voice sounded so weak that Louis hurried up even more, to make sure Liam’s fever get’s down quickly.   
Louis was finally finished, leaving Liam in just his underwear. The younger boy was already shivering and Louis had to remind himself that he was actually helping Liam with this. He turned on the shower on a mild temperature. “C’mon Li, hop in.”  
He helped his band mate into the shower, wincing as Liam let out a strangled scream. “’S too cold.”  
He desperately tried to get out but Louis held him back. “No Liam, just for a few minutes.”  
Liam sobbed. “Please let me out.”  
Louis felt his heart shatter, but he knew that he needed to pull trough this without listening to his bad conscience. Liam squirmed in his arms, shivering violently. “You’re doing great mate, just a few more minutes.”  
Liam began shaking like a leaf and Louis decided that it was time for the sick boy to get out of the shower now. He grabbed the a towel from the holder and turned off the water.   
Liam’s teeth were chattering as Louis wrapped the big towel around him. Louis sighed.”I think we should check your temperature again. Your head feeling a bit better?”  
Liam nodded slightly. “Not as bad as it was before.”  
Louis smiled, feeling a bit more relieved now as he stuck the thermometer in Liam’s mouth again. “39.5! Well that’s a improvement at least.”  
He wrapped his arm around Liam’s waist to stabilize the younger boy and led him out of the bathroom. “C’mon let’s get ya’ some clothes.”  
Liam nodded dazed. “’M tired.”  
Louis tightened his hold. “You can go back to sleep in a second.”, he soothed. “Although I don’t understand how you can still be tired. You already slept more today than I did this whole tour and I managed to stay healthy.”  
Liam smiled weakly. “Leave me alone, you dick.”  
Louis laughed softly. “You’ll never get rid of me.”  
Liam leaned into him a bit more and closed his eyes. “Good.”  
They flinched when the door was pulled open. Harry and Niall stood in the door, eying them concerned. “Why is Liam running around in a towel? And why are you soaking wet Lou’?”, Harry asked. Louis looked down and noticed that yes, he was in fact drenched in water. He was so focused on Liam that he was not aware of this until now. He sighted relieved, because he was a bit glad that the other two boys were back to be honest. Liam really scared him this time. “His fever spiked, I gave him a cold shower.”, he mumbled.  
Harrys eyes widened. “What happened? How high was his temperature.”  
Louis sat Liam down on his bed and turned to Niall. “Can you get fresh clothes out of his suitcase?”, he told him before turning to Harry. “He threw up because of his Migraine so I got him some meds and when I checked his temperature it was up to 40.1 degrees. I did not really know what to do but I remembered you saying something about a cold shower and – I think it was the right thing.”  
Harry grimaced feeling bad for both, Liam, because he really was not well and Louis, because the oldest had to deal with all of this alone. “You did a great job Lou’.”  
Niall walked over to Liam with a fresh set of clothes, helping the boy getting dressed before he fell back in his bed in an exhausted heap. Niall turned around to Louis and Harry with a anxious expression. “He’s still burning.”  
Louis nodded. “You should’ve seen him earlier. His temperate dropped to 39.5 degrees after the shower at least.”  
Harry and Niall looked a little bit calmer now. “Now that’s … something… right?”, Niall mumbled.   
Louis watched Liam falling asleep, the younger boy looked worn out and Louis hoped that this was going to be over soon. “I just want to help him”, Louis whispered. “His fever still has not really dropped.”  
Harry sighed. “He developed a fever in the night, it won’t just go away in a few hours. There is no need to worry. This needs time.”  
Louis nodded. “I know. You’re right… I’m just feeling so helpless.”  
“You’re helping him Louis, you really are but we can’t do any more than what we are doing at the moment. His body needs to fight this himself.”, Harry said, trying his best to calm Louis down, without showing that he also wanted to help Liam more than he did at the moment – even thought he knew that this was not possible.   
Louis closed his eyes. “He’s just one of my best friends and I hate to see him in pain or discomfort. This really sucks.”  
Niall smiled, even thought he felt the same. “Who would have thought that you two will get this close.”  
Louis nodded. “We were on each other’s throats all the time weren’t we?”  
Harry nodded in agreement. “I seriously thought we had to send you to some sort of couple therapy in order to save the band.”, Harry grinned.   
Louis rolled his eyes, laughing in the progress. “I really did not get along with him. He was always practicing, always taking everything so serious.”, he smiled at all the memories of the X-factor and how Liam’s and his friendship slowly established. His expression suddenly fell a bit. “I wish I would’ve been there for him back than instead of … you know… Zayn.”  
Harry shook his head. “You are not seriously blaming yourself for something you did – or did not – 5 years ago. Louis you need to stop with this.”  
Louis sighed. “It’s just… I remembered the Migraines he had at the X-factor and I … you know… never bothered to help him. Kind of regretting this now. Zayn was always there for him back then.”  
Niall patted his back. “Zayn was there Louis, but he isn’t here now. You are, and you’re doing a great job helping him.”  
The smile on Louis’ face was back now. “Thanks guys, I’m sorry that I’m so fucking emotional today.”  
“Glad you’re opening up ‘bout all of this Lou’”  
They stood in silence for a bit before Louis groaned. “I’m actually really hungry now.”  
“We could go and grab you something.”, Niall suggested.   
“You can’t seriously think that we could Liam leave in this condition.”  
Niall sighed. “I meant us two. Harry and I already discussed this. We will head to a nice restaurant to get you something to eat and stuff and Harry will stay here with Li’.”  
Louis still looked hesitant. “I think I want to stay here with him.”  
Harry nodded. “Alright mate, let’s call the room service then alright?”  
That finally seemed to be okay with Louis. “Sounds like a plan.”

Not even 10 Minutes later there was a knock on the door. Louis got up quickly, swearing a little because was it really necessary to knock that loud? Liam was sleeping for god’s sake. “They were very fast. I hope it tastes good! ‘M starving!”  
He pulled the door open, ready to greet the room service cheerily, but the words got stuck in his throat. Two brown, familiar eyes were staring back at him. “What the hell are you doing here?!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is like really lame and stuff but I did not really know how to include Zayn, sorry!

Louis nearly smashed the door back into Zayns face but then he decided that this was probably not an option. Zayn was looking uncomfortable with Louis standing right in front of him. “I- Liam wanted me to come!”  
Louis furrowed his eyebrows. “You said that you won’t on the phone! Do you even know how-“  
“Who is there Lou’?”, Harry interrupted his ramble. His eyes widened as his eyes fell on the person that was standing in the doorway. He grinned widely. “Zayn.”  
Zayn smiled shyly. “Hey Harry.”  
“Liam will be so happy that ya’ came mate!”, Niall’s voice came from across the room.   
Louis frowned at Niall and Harry, always forgetting that his band mates had not fought with the boy. “Liam will not! He was perfectly fine without him.”  
Zayn looked at Harry with a confused expression. “I thought he- you know… He said that he needs me.”  
Before Harry could say anything Louis spoke up again, getting more and more furious. “But then you told him that you won’t come and that upset him even more, thank you very much for this.”  
Zayn bit his lip. “I did not want to come at first but… it’s Liam and he sounded so … desperate. I got in the car not long after I called you back.”  
Niall was now standing besides Harry and Louis too. “You were driving the whole way down here?”  
Zayn shrugged. “Just took me about five hours.”  
Harry turned to Niall and Zayn. “I think we should let you three alone for a bit. We’ll talk later Zayn.”, he said and pulled Niall with him. This was the ideal occasion for Louis and Zayn to sort things out. He turned around again too look at Zayn once again, making sure that the boy was really here. “I’m really glad to see you again.”  
Zayn nodded, seeming a bit overwhelmed, not really wanting to deal with Louis alone but also too shy to actually say this out loud.   
Louis also seemed not too happy, glaring at Harry from where he was standing but the younger boy completely ignored this, already making his way down the hall together with Niall.   
Louis turned around, because there was no way that he was going to invite Zayn into their room. He did not really care what the other boy would do now, he was just going to pretend that he was not there.  
Zayn walked in the room, shutting the door after him, taking in his first impression of Liam. The younger boy really did not look good and Zayn winced at his pale, sweaty face and the flushed cheeks. Besides that, Liam was shaking like a leaf despite the thick blanket he was covered with. “How is he?”, he whispered, but he received no answer. Louis just looked up for a second, glaring at him before looking back down onto his phone.   
Zayn rolled his eyes. “You can’t ignore me forever, you know?”  
Louis scoffed. “I can ignore you for now.”  
Zayn grumbled something that sounded like ‘Very mature’, and sat down on a chair besides Liam’s bed.   
Louis shifted in his seat. “You can be glad that I’m not just kicking you out.”  
Zayn sighted. “Why are you so mad at me?”  
Louis let out a forced laugh. “Are you kidding me? Are you seriously asking me why I’m mad at you?! Well let’s start with-“, Louis stopped himself as Liam whimpered slightly, cursing at himself for possibly waking the younger boy but also for losing the control over his anger.   
He hoped, that Liam would just go back to sleep, but today seemed not to be a good day for him. Liam turned over and opened his eyes tiredly.   
Louis jumped into action. “This is all about Liam now, alright? Act like everything is completely fine, no need to upset him even further, right?”, he whispered, because if Zayn and him were fighting while Liam was awake the younger boy would probably freak out.  
Zayn nodded and Louis continued, his voice low but still somehow threatening. “And you better be nice to him.”  
Zayn looked a bit offended at this, because how could Louis even think that he would be mean to Liam. “I- of course!”  
Louis sighed. This was not easy for him because Zayn was suddenly here and Liam was still poorly and he was alone and not ready for this at all.   
Liam finally seemed to be more awake now. He looked around the room and the first thing he saw was – unsurprisingly – Zayn. He let out a strangled sob, as his glassy eyes focused on the older boy. “Zayn.”, he whispered. His breathing fastened and Zayn got up quickly, sitting down on the side of the bed.   
Liam’s lip was trembling. “Why are you here? I thought- you said-”  
“Wanted to see ya’ Li’.”, he mumbled and the nickname seemed to upset Liam even more as he burst into tears. “I- You- you said you hated me.”, he whimpered.  
Zayn winced looking to Louis for answer but the older boy just glared at him before rolling his eyes. “He had a nightmare ‘bout you.”  
Zayn turned to Liam again. “I don’t … hate you. I- how can you even think that? It was just a dream, alright?”  
Liam mumbled something unintelligent, sat up slightly and wrapped his arms around Zayn. Zayn seemed a bit surprised at first but quickly composed himself again, hugging Liam tightly. Louis bit his lip awkwardly. Of course he was glad that Liam was reunited and happy with Zayn but this was also really unfair. He was the one who held Liam like this for the past 3 months, Liam could not just replace him with Zayn like that. And again, Louis cursed himself, because Zayn would not even be here if he would’ve helped Liam in the first place. He knew that he was being irrational but he did not want to share the position he had right now with Zayn. He was Liam’s best friend and it has been a lot of hard work to get there.   
Zayn grimaced. “He’s burning up.”  
Louis nodded absently. “He’s nearly having a forty degree temperature.”  
Zayn looked even more concerned now. “Shouldn’t we do something about this?”  
Now this was making Louis mad all over again, because how could Zayn dare to say this? The boys and him had gone through hell and back trying to get Liam better and now Zayn was implying that he thought they had not even tried to do something to help the younger boy yet.  
“WE already gave him medicine and a cold shower. I was sitting here by his side for the last 5 hours, trying to get him better so don’t even try telling me what to do. ”, Louis hissed.   
Zayn looked a bit taken aback, because he did not mean it this way. “Oh… I just thought-”  
“Thought what? That we are not able to handle this? That you are the only one who knows what to do? You were not his first choice, he tried waking me up before he called you!” Louis did not know why he mentioned this, because this clearly was not a competition. This whole situation was just a bit overwhelming and he just needed to let Zayn know that he was no longer important in all of this. That they could handle things well even if he was not there.  
Zayn looked confused. “Tried?”  
Louis mentally slapped himself because, that was something he sure as hell did not want Zayn to know. He remained silent, so Zayn pressed further. “What do you mean with ‘tried’?”  
Louis just rolled his eyes trying not to look too guilty but Zayn seemed to catch up. ”You told him off? He was sick enough to wake you up and you told him off?”  
Zayn knew that this probably was not his best move, but he always got super protective when it was about Liam and he just could not stop himself- even if he had hurt Liam too much in the last months to speak up now.   
Louis took a deep breath because even though he was mad at him, Zayn hit a weak spot. “I did not know.”, he mumbled weakly.   
Zayn bit his lip, because that had really been a dick move- he knew that Louis did not do it on purpose, but Liam was burning up and it was making him nervous and overprotective. Everything just felt so familiar as if the whole drama did never happen.   
Louis bit his lip, because he had so much that he wanted to tell Zayn but he was also thinking about whether or not he should leave the room to give Liam some privacy with Zayn. He sighed and turned around, walking in the direction of the door.   
Liam seemed to notice right away. He turned away from Zayn slightly and whimpered. “Lou’ no… please… don’t leave me alone.”  
Liam looked at him desperately. Louis stopped. “I’m- I just thought-“  
“Please.”, Liam was sobbing now, trying to get out of his bed. “You promised- you said that-“  
“Sorry mate, I’m staying. ‘Course I’m staying.”, Louis mumbled frantically. “Just stay in that bed.”  
Zayn had followed the scene silently until now. “Man, he’s a mess.”, he mumbled concerned, deciding not to comment on the strong bond between Liam and Louis.   
Louis nodded. “He’s absolutely delirious.”  
Zayn tightened his hold on Liam. “I’ve never seen him like this.”  
Louis nodded. “Yeah, me neither.”  
He then remembered about the headache the younger boy experienced earlier and sighed. “Your head’s feeling better mate?”  
Liam took a trembling breath. “Still hurts.”, he whimpered. “But it’s getting’ better.”  
Zayn furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and Louis bit his lip. “He had a Migraine earlier”, he explained. “I already gave him something for it.”, he quickly added, because Zayns expression changed into a concerned one, full of apprehension. Zayn nodded thoughtful, letting out a relieved sigh. “Man, I think he had his last one in the X-factor house.”  
Louis took a deep breath, because he was still mad at Zayn and this conversation headed into a much too comfortable direction. He kind did not want Zayn to think that everything was alright again just because they were talking. “I wouldn’t know about it, would I?”, he mumbled darkly.  
Zayn looked confused for a second, then he understood. “Right…”  
There was uncomfortable silence for a few seconds.   
“At least I never left him.”, Louis mumbled then, because he just could not hold it back.  
Zayn tensed up. “I was stressed out and could not handle it anymore and you know this. Would you’ve found it better if-“  
“That’s not what I’m talking about! That was never what I was talking about!”, Louis interrupted him, raising his voice. “Liam was apparently hoping for you to call him for the last three months.”  
Zayn looked a bit taken aback. “He could have called me too.”  
Louis rolled his eyes. “This is your excuse? You know Liam, he is always worried about disturbing people. He thought that you don’t want to talk to him, ‘course he did not call.”  
Zayn hid his heads in his face, making a frustrated sound. “I fucked up.”  
Louis closed his eyes, taking a deep breath because Zayn sounded really sorry. “Me too.”  
Zayn looked confused. “How have you fucked up Louis? What can you possibly have done that’s worse than what I did.”  
“Not saying it’s worse- just really fucked up.”, he said, looking down at his hands. “He really needed me this Morning and I just- I basically told him that he just piss off.”  
Zayn bit his lip. He felt bad for getting angry about it earlier because it really seemed to bug Louis. “That was not anywhere near fucked up.”  
Louis shrugged. “Still…”, he sighed deeply. “Have you ever told him off when he was having a Migraine at the X-factor?”  
“Well no- but It was not early in the Morning mostly and he was always very obviously in pain.”, Zayn said. “You don’t need to feel bad about this.”  
Louis nodded thoughtfully. He kind of wanted to tell Zayn how much he wanted him to be there in the bathroom with him to help Liam but he was also still mad at Zayn. “So… How long are you staying?  
Zayn sighed. “Is this really what we should be talking about Louis?”  
Louis’ chest tightened. He closed his eyes, breathing heavily. He knew that this was the perfect opportunity to sort out the things with Zayn and he kind of wanted to get over with this conversation – not in front of Liam thought. “’Course. Where shall we go?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got to finish the next chapter - I love drama as you can probably tell! Don't worry thought! I hope you like it as I wrote the second half kind of fast and could not get myself to proof-read.

Zayn looked down at Liam, noticing that the younger boy was already falling back asleep. He carefully let go of the boy and watched him as he snuggled back into his covers, closing his eyes exhaustedly. “Can we leave him alone here?”  
Louis took a deep breath, because he was not impressed by the idea of leaving Liam alone but the boy would probably sleep until they would come back. “We could go in Harry’ and Niall’s room, you can hear him trough the walls then.”  
Zayn nodded. “Sounds good.”, he mumbled, looking at Liam again. “Is he already asleep?”  
Louis went closer to the bed. Liam’s breathing was slowly evening out. “Yeah, seems so.”  
“Right. Let’s go then.”  
Louis closed his eyes, because on the one hand he wanted to talk to Zayn about everything but on the other he really did not.   
Zayn stood up slowly, trying not to wake Liam up and followed Louis, who was already on his way to the door. They closed the door as quiet as possible. Zayn turned around to face Louis. “Where do we go now?”  
Louis pointed to the next door on the left side. “Their room is right here.”  
Zayn nodded as Louis let them into Harry’ and Niall’s room. Louis flinched a little bit as the door clicked shut behind them, because that meant that they were completely alone and ready to talk now. Zayn sighed. “So… Where do we start?”  
Louis felt overwhelmed by this because how should he be able to answer that. In the last three months there happened a million things worth to talk about and he really did not know where to start. He shrugged and Zayn sighed again. “Tell me why you are so mad at me.”  
Louis felt his anger rising – which was probably a bad thing considering that they’ve only been talking for about… 10 seconds by now. “Tell you why I’m mad…”, he muttered. “How much time do you have?”  
“Come on. We are here to talk aren’t we?”  
Louis took a deep breath. “You just disappeared Zayn and even thought everyone acts like they are cool with this and everything is alright it isn’t.”  
Zayn furrowed his eyebrows. “Why can’t you just accept that I left the band? It got too much, why aren’t you allowing me stop with things that are not good for my health?”  
“You really don’t get it do you?!”, Louis said raising his voice. “Of course you can stop being in the band but-“, he stopped in the middle of his sentence, not sure if he should finish.  
“But what?”, Zayn asked aggressive.   
Louis took a deep breath. “You also stopped being our friend Zayn, and that sucks. It really sucked okay?”  
Zayn looked taken aback now. “I- I did not… stop… being your friend.”  
“Then what do you call this Zayn? You were just gone, we did not even get a second call.”  
Louis looked like he was about to cry now and Zayn felt the urge to defend himself. “You could have called me too! I thought you were pissed at me for leaving. All I got was your damn tweet Louis.”  
Louis knew where this was going and he was not going to accept it just like that. “Are you telling me that you did not see the tweet Liam posted? Can you even imagine how upset he got when you did not even react to it? He was a mess Zayn and you need to finally realize this.”  
Zayn did not quite know what to say. “What do you mean with ‘he was a mess’? Liam knew that we were still best friends.”, he told the older boy after a few seconds.  
Louis scoffed. “No man. Liam knew that the boy and me were still his best friends, because we actually talked to him. He was crying so hard that he made himself sick and that did not happen just once. He missed you so much. He missed you as a friend thought, not just as a band member.”  
Zayn swallowed hard, because did he really hurt Liam that much? “I-“  
“And do you know how we got updates on your life?”, Louis continued, cutting Zayn off. “Through fucking Naughty Boy. Everything we got to know the last months was from the shitty Tweets Naughty Boy gave us. Can you even imagine what that feels like?!”  
“Okay I should have called but you bitching out about everything he tweeted was not cool either. Is this really how you want this to end?”  
“How dare you comparing my Tweets to everything you did. You can’t be serious.”  
Zayn closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I know that I fucked up and I’m sorry.”   
Louis was still furious. “That’s it? We don’t even get one single message from you and three months later you drive down here and all you can say is ‘Sorry’?!”  
“What am I supposed to say? What are you expecting? Can’t you just forgive me?”  
Louis was quiet for a few seconds, then he slowly shook his head. “I don’t think I can.”  
Zayn looked taken aback, like he was not expecting this. “Well… If this is it- then I’m sorry… but I guess I can’t change your mind.”  
A single tear rolled down Louis’ cheek and he furiously wiped it away. “Yeah.”, he mumbled and it was the shittiest feeling he had in a long time.   
Zayn looked ready to cry too, but luckily the door opened at this moment, saving them from an uncomfortable silence. Harry and Niall strode through the door, looking surprised to see them.   
“Shall we- you know… Go somewhere else?”, Harry asked.  
Louis shook his head. “We’re finished here.”  
Harry and Niall nodded awkwardly, knowing exactly what Louis’ voice meant- seems like they’d have to wait some more time for their reunion.   
“How is Liam doing?”, Niall tried to break to silence.   
Zayn was the first one to answer. “He was awake for a few minutes earlier but he went right back to sleep.”  
“Was he happy to see ya?”, Niall asked.  
Zayn nodded a bit. “I think so…”  
Harry smiled. “I’m sure he was. How long are you staying?”  
Zayn smiled a bit too and shrugged. “I don’t know yet, I made the decision quiet spontaneously so I don’t have further plans to be honest.”  
Niall grinned. “You can stay as long as you want to, but we have a show in another country in a few days.”  
Louis shot him an angry glare. He did not like that the other three boys were talking with each other so comfortably as if everything was alright. “We’ll have one if Liam is fit enough.”, he grumbled.  
Harry looked at him and nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, let’s hope he’ll be better then.”  
Niall sighed. “If his fever is still that high tomorrow we will get him to see a doctor yeah?”  
Louis nodded. “I wonder for how long he felt bad without telling us to get this sick.”  
“You know how Liam is. He hates to get all the attention, especially if he gets it because he is showing weakness.”, Harry said.  
Zayn nodded. “He has always been like that. It was pretty concerning to see him like that.”  
Louis expression darkened as soon as Zayn had opened his mouth and Harry noticed it with a frown. He tried not to mention anything. “Yeah, he clearly does not feel well at all.”, he paused a bit. “Since when are you two in here?”  
Louis shrugged, fumbling out his phone. As soon as he looked at the screen, his eyes went wider. “Shit! We’ve been here since nearly an hour now.”  
“Calm down mate, he is fine, you don’t have to babysit him 24/7.”, Niall told him, because Louis seemed to freak out any minute.   
“I’m going to check on him.”, Louis mumbled, jumping out of his seat. He saw Zayn doing the same out of the corners of his eyes but decided not to care – he just wanted to get to Liam as soon as possible.  
“You are being ridiculous Lou’”, Harry said, but Louis just continued to walk out of the room, not even turning around to check whether someone followed him or not.   
Louis stormed into Liam’s and his hotel room, pleased to see that the younger boy was still asleep. He chuckled slightly because maybe Harry and Niall were right and he was acting a bit ridiculous. He took a few steps towards Liam’s bed and frowned, because something seemed a bit… off with Liam.   
The boy seemed restless and sweaty. He also looked like he was crying. Louis furrowed his eyebrows. He did not quiet know if he should wake the younger boy or not. Louis shrieked slightly when he suddenly felt a presence behind him. He turned around to face – who else would it be – Zayn. “He is fine see? No need to worry.”  
Louis scoffed, because how couldn’t Zayn notice. “Something is clearly off with him. I mean just take a close look.”  
Zayns eyes settled on Liam’s sleeping form and Louis watched as his calm expression changed into a frown. “Has he been crying? Should we wake him?”  
Louis nodded. “I’ll do it.”  
He took two final steps towards Liam’s bed and carefully sat down on it. He laid his left hand on Liam’s shoulder and gently shook it. Liam stirred a little bit and whimpered. “C’mon Li’, I just want to check on you shortly.”  
Liam slowly opened his eyes at this. As soon as he saw Louis he let out another whimper. “Lou’”, he sobbed.   
“What’s wrong mate? Why are you crying?”  
“You wasn’t here.”, Liam gasped. “I- You promised that you wouldn’t leave.”  
Louis’ eyes went wide, guilt bubbling up in his stomach.   
Liam sobbed. “You said- You promised Lou’.”  
Louis felt tears forming in his own eyes now and he turned around, hoping desperately to find a answer he could give Liam somewhere in the room. Harry and Niall returned the looking – looking almost as lost as he felt.  
Zayn cleared his throat. “Everything is alright Li’. Nobody left you, we were right there, we were just in the other room for a few minutes yeah?”  
Liam was sobbing hysterically by now and Harry and Niall finally jumped in too – Louis was still too shocked to even think, let alone talk.   
“You need to calm down Li’. Take a deep breath for me.”, Harry soothed, trying to sound calm himself.  
Liam looked at him and took a deep, shuddering breath. Harry joined Louis at Liam’s bed, rubbing Louis’ shoulder slightly before turning to Liam. He touched Liam’s forehead and winced at the intense heat Liam’s skin radiated. “Can someone get me a cold cloth please?”, Harry asked, sounding way more stressed out then he wanted to. Niall quickly jumped into action while Louis finally managed to form some words. “I- I’m…” He cut himself off, putting his head in-between his hands. Niall came back at this moment with a wet cloth and a bottle of water. He handed both over to Harry before turning to Louis. “Don’t worry mate, he is not mad at you.”  
“’Course he is. He cried because of me again.”, Louis snapped. “I screwed up in the morning and I promised not to do it again.”  
Niall put his hand on Louis back. “He is feverish Lou’, this is not your fault.”, he said. “He isn’t thinking straight and this would have happened sooner or later anyways. Please don’t blame yourself over this.”   
Louis sighed. He knew that Niall was kind of right with this but he could not help but feel guilty. This would not have happened if Zayn had not shown up, he thought bitterly. He swallowed and turned his attention to Harry and Liam.   
Harry was still trying to calm Liam down and he seemed to do a good job as Liam’s breathing was evening out more and more. Niall handed Harry the thermometer and he gently put it in Liam’s mouth.   
They all waited impatiently until they heard it beeping. Harry carefully took the thermometer out of Liam’s mouth and frowned. Louis looked over his shoulder, gasping as he could finally take a look on the little screen.   
“What? What does it say?”, Zayn asked, getting more and more nervous by the expressions of the other boys.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New one. Hope you like it.

Harry glanced at the screen again to check if maybe he just got something wrong but the number 40 was still obvious. “I think we should get him to a hospital, this is just not getting better.”  
Liam gasped at this. “No- no… please…”  
He seemed completely out of it and the whole situation began to get really scary.   
“What’s his temperature? What’s going on?”, Zayn sounded desperate and Niall finally pulled himself together enough to answer him.   
“40.3”  
Zayns eyes widened even more. Louis pushed Harry out of the way gently to be as close to Liam’s side as possible. Liam’s glassy eyes watched exhaustedly and as soon as Louis was near enough he weakly reached for the older boy. Louis smiled sadly as he wrapped his arms around the him, shocked by the heat Liam radiated. He turned to Niall. “Call Paddy and tell him to get a doctor please.” He knew that Liam probably will not like this, but his fever seemed to get more and more serious instead of better and Louis was scared.  
Niall nodded, glad that he could finally do something to help. Zayn also jumped into action, taking the water bottle from the nightstand and handing it to Liam. “You need to drink something Li’.”  
Liam nodded, slowly trying to take the bottle but the fever was making him weak and dazed so Zayn held it for him. “That’s it, you will be fine.”, Zayn whispered and Louis was not sure whether Zayn tried to reassure Liam or himself. Liam closed his eyes exhaustedly. Zayn sighed. “Liam, you really need to drink more.”, he said, but Liam showed not the slightest inclination to do this, so Zayn just put the bottle down on the night stand.  
Louis turned his head to Harry, trying his best to ignore Zayn. “I hate this.”  
Harry sighed sadly. “Me too.”, he looked in the direction of the hallway where Niall was currently talking to Paddy. “But he will get help soon.”  
Zayn placed his hand on Liam’s forehead and Louis had to stop himself from swatting it away. “He is burning.”  
The door opened and Niall came in with Paddy. The bodyguard struggled to keep the professional look on his face but the boys could clearly see how worried he was. “I called the reception and they said that they will get the doctor to come in about half an hour.”  
Harry nodded. “Great. Thanks Paddy.”  
Paddy flashed Harry a smile and sat down on the opposite side from Louis. Louis looked at him fearfully. “Shall we give him something for it? Something for the fever?”  
Paddy took the cold cloth and carefully wiped Liam’s face. “I think we should wait for the doctor, see what he says and prescribes.”  
Louis nodded uneasily, because on the one side he knew that this was the best thing to do but one the other one, he just wanted to help Liam. He just could not stand seeing the younger boy like this any longer.   
Liam hid his face in Louis’ shoulder and the older boy tightened his arms around him, feeling the heat Liam radiated even through his shirt. “How are you feeling Li’?”, he asked, even thought he was sure how the boy was feeling.  
Liam shrugged. “’Kay.”   
Louis rolled his eyes slightly, but there was no point in arguing with Liam. “Right.”  
Harry sighed and locked eyes with Zayn. The older boy looked as terrified as he felt, even if he kind of knew that Liam would probably be fine. It was just scary. “Zayn, are you alright?”  
Zayn smiled slightly. “A lot better than Li obviously-“, he mumbled. “I just have not seen him for months and now when I finally do he… you know. I just wanted this to be different. I hate seeing him like this.”  
Harry nodded, because of course this must be extra hard for Zayn, who has not seen Liam for over 3 months and was now confronted with this. He knew that Zayn was not bugged by this – ‘course he was not, but Harry could imagine that it was not how Zayn wanted to see Liam after all this weeks.   
Louis however was still bitter about everything – also concerned about Liam and clearly overwhelmed with the whole situation - and you could clearly tell. “Well Liam, seems like you need to apologize to Zayn for not throwing him a welcome party.”  
Liam mumbled something that sounded like a weak ‘what’, while Zayn took a deep breath. “You know that this is not what I meant.”  
“Can you two please stop this and focus on Liam?”, Niall hissed, startling both, Louis and Zayn.   
Louis looked down at his hands guiltily. “Yeah, ‘course. Sorry Li’.”  
Liam closed his eyes exhaustedly. “’S okay.”, he mumbled, even thought everyone in the room was pretty sure that the boy had no idea what was going on.   
Zayn sat down on the bed next to Paddy and the bodyguard smiled warmly at him. “I’ve already heard that you came. Good to see you Zayn.”  
Zayn smiled back shyly. “Glad to see you again too.”  
Paddy looked at Liam for a moment, before turning back to Zayn. “He really missed you, you know?”  
Louis took a deep breath, because why kept everyone telling Zayn that? Louis knew that Liam missed him, but he kind of did not want Zayn to know this too. The other boys did such a good job in distracting Liam from the whole drama and Liam was totally fine until he developed this stupid fever – at least that’s what Louis wanted to believe.   
Zayn nodded slightly. “Yeah… I know.”  
They sat in awkward silence after that, only an occasional whimper from Liam could be heard now and then, with one of the boys asking him if he was okay afterwards every time. Liam always just nodded weakly, looking like he either was about to cry or pass out from exhaustion.   
When there finally was a knock on the door, everyone let out a sigh of relieve. Niall quickly opened it, standing in front of a nice looking man, probably in his early forties with a white coat and a medical bag. He smiled widely. “Hello. Come in.”  
The man smiled back friendly. “Hi there. I’m doctor Johnson.”  
Paddy quickly stood up to greet the doctor too. “Hello. I’m the one who called you earlier.”  
The doctor nodded. “So what’s the matter?”  
“One of the boys developed a high fever in the night and no matter what we tried, it just won’t break.”, Paddy explained.   
The doctor took in his first image of Liam. “Ah, I see.” He turned to Paddy and the boys. “I would say you all go outside until I-“  
“NO!”  
“Louis please, it’s just for a few minutes.”, Paddy said softly. The doctor looked just confused by Louis’ behavior.   
“I won’t leave him here all alone.”  
Zayn who was already at the door turned around to face Louis. He was stressed out and just wanted Liam to get better. “Louis stop being stupid, we all want Liam to get helped so please don’t prolong this.”  
Louis furrowed his eyebrows. “There is no fucking way that I will leave him alone, because even if you don’t have a problem with it, I do.”  
The doctor decided not to react to their fight and just patted Louis on the shoulder. “It’s fine, you can stay here and may help him answer some question, alright?”  
“Thanks.”, Louis huffed and shot Zayn a meaningful glance.  
Liam whimpered as Zayn turned to go out of the door. “No… please… Z. Don’t go.”  
Zayn turned around again and the doctor looked even more confused now. Louis paled. “You want him to stay?”  
Liam whimpered again. “Please… don’t get mad… I- I jus’.”  
Louis sighed. “Not mad at you Liam. Just- you know… I’ll go yeah?”  
Liam shook his head weakly at this. “Both stay… please.”  
Louis looked at Zayn. The boy was already on his way back in the room and Louis started to feel really uncomfortable. He did not deserve this. Zayn should be somewhere in Bradford and Louis should be the only one Liam wanted right now.   
Dr. Johnson sighed. “Just stay here you two, but please, try not to upset him further.”  
Zayn and Louis nodded and the doctor turned to Liam. “Hey buddy, how are you feeling?”  
Liam shrugged and Dr. Johnson smiled at him. “You can tell me, you know? I’m here to help you and I can’t if I don’t know what’s wrong with you.”  
Liam nodded weakly. “’M jus’ so cold and exhausted. And my head hurts.”  
The doctor smiled at Liam and turned to Louis. “Anything you want to add?”  
“Yeah,”, Louis mumbled. “He seemed kind of tired yesterday and woke up in the middle of the night with a high fever. He also got sick once earlier, but he said it was because of his headache. We- we just can’t bring his fever down.”  
“Thank you, let’s see what’s wrong then, shall we?”  
He sat down on the bed starting to examine Liam, asking Louis a few questions now and then.  
“Right.”, he said after a few minutes. “His fever is scarily high but I would not be too worried. It’s just a combination of exhaustion and mild dehydration. It’s just a slightly more serious case of the flu, he will be fine in a few days. I will prescribe him something for it.”  
Louis and Zayn sighed in relief. “Thank you.”, Louis said. “So his fever will get down with the medicine and a good amount of sleep?”  
The doctor smiled. “Yeah it should, but don’t freak out if it spikes again, especially in the evening and in the night, that’s normal.”  
Zayn nodded, watching as Liam slowly drifted off to sleep again. “Is there anything else we could do?”  
“Cold clothes on his forehead are never a bad idea and make sure that he drinks enough. He should also eat something now and then, but other than that you can’t do much. Just call me if you have a question or need me again. I will be there as soon as possible.”  
Louis nodded. “We have a show coming up, he won’t be able to do it right?”  
“He needs all the rest he can get in the next few days, but I will talk about this with your manager, he already asked me about it too.”  
Louis bit his lip. There was no way that he would let Liam on stage in this condition but he kind of suspected that the younger boy had to do it. They probably could not handle an entire show with just the remaining three of them. He sighed. “Alright thank you.”  
Dr. Johnson opened the door and was greeted by the anxious looking Harry, Niall and Paddy. He turned to Paddy, figuring that he was the responsible one. “I already told the two boys everything. Liam has a serious case of the flu – nothing some medicine and plenty of rest cannot fix. You just need to keep him hydrated. Call me if you need anything.”  
Paddy smiled, looking obviously relieved. “Thank you very much.”, he said. “So the fever is nothing to be concerned about?”  
“It was a bit too high but I gave him something for it and it should get down now. Louis told me that he had a busy day yesterday so it probably was due exhaustion.”  
Harry nodded, turning to Niall. “He seemed really tired yesterday, didn’t he?”  
“Yeah.”, Niall agreed. “He also told me that his head kind of hurt but I thought it was just because he was tired or something.”  
Harry sighed as he looked at Liam, the boy seemed already asleep again. He joined Louis and Zayn on the side of the bed, watching as Paddy and the doctor closed the door and left. “It’s already past 6 pm. Shall we order something to eat?”, Niall asked.  
Louis nodded. “Yeah, I’m starving and I guess Liam should eat something too.”  
Zayn and Harry agreed as well. When they were done with ordering – they decided to just order something from the room service – they all sat down silently.  
Harry was the first one to break the silence. “So Zayn.”, he began, smiling at the older boy. “Tell us how the things were going for ya’. How have you been? Seems like ages, doesn’t it?”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finished another chapter already again because I've got nothing else to do at the moment tbh. I will be at my grandparents for the whole next week so I won't be able to write anything then. I hope some people still like this, because I thinks it's getting really boring.

Zayn smiled. “I’ve been doing great. Spending some time with the family and with Perrie, it’s really nice.”  
“Sounds good mate, glad to hear.”, Niall said and Louis snorted.   
Harry shot him a look and turned to Zayn again. He knew that Louis was upset by this and everything but he also could not help him right now, so he decided to ignore the tension between the two boys. “I can’t believe you drove all the way down here.”  
Zayn shrugged. “It was not that long and Liam begged me. I just needed to come.”  
Louis muttered something that sounded like ‘he did not beg you’ but Harry just went on with his questions. “How long are you going to stay?”  
“I dunno to be honest. I have not even checked in yet, they haven’t had a free room. I will have to look for another hotel somewhere near or something.”, Zayn answered.  
“Louis and Liam have a spare bed in here, don’t you?”, Harry said, looking at Louis. Louis stared back at him, his eyes practically screaming ‘don’t do this to me!’.   
Zayn coughed awkwardly. “No thank you, I will just-“  
“Don’t be silly Zayn.”, Niall cut him off. “I don’t even know how you managed to get in here without making a big scene. They will tear you to pieces out there. You need to stay here mate.”  
Zayn bit his lip, not really knowing what to do or say because he knew that things were difficult with Louis at the moment. “Yeah- no- I’ll… you know-“  
Louis sighed. “Fine. He can stay here.”  
Harry smiled. “Thanks Lou’.”  
Louis huffed and pulled his phone out of his pocket, giving everyone else in the room the cold shoulder. He completely zoomed out of the conversation the other three boys had until there was a knock on the door. Louis quickly looked at Liam, but the boy was still sleeping deeply.   
Harry has already opened the door, quietly talking to a guy who probably was employed at the hotel and came back into the room a few minutes later, carrying a plate of different plates of food with him. He handed everyone their order and sat down again. He looked at Louis, who was already digging into his portion of pasta. “Shall we wake Liam up? Does he need to eat or take some medication?”  
Louis nodded slowly, swallowing a fork full of noodles before answering. “We can wait until we finished eating. He just fell asleep like half an hour ago and I don’t want to wake him up yet.”  
Harry seemed to be satisfied with this, because he just nodded and kept eating.  
Louis pushed his plate aside after around half an hour and looked around, noticing that the other boys were finished too. He sighed, looking over at Liam, who was still fast asleep. “I think we should wake him now.”  
Zayn nodded. “  
Zayn nodded. “Yeah. Harry, have you seen the dry piece of toast and the chicken soup we’ve ordered with this?”  
Harry stood up and looked for the things on the tablet. “Yeah, here they are. Where is the medication?”  
Louis pointed to the night stand. “Over here.”, he said. “I will wake Liam.”, he added before Zayn could.  
He pushed himself out of his seat and walked over to Liam’s bed, gently sitting down next to the younger boy. “Liam?”, he whispered, carefully shaking the boys shoulder.   
Liam stirred, opening his eyes, tiredly blinking at Louis. “Lou’?”  
“We just need you to take your medication and to eat and drink something, yeah?”  
Liam groaned. “Not hungry- ‘M tired.”  
Harry joined Louis, balancing a bowl of soup, a piece of toast and a bottle of water in his hands. “You can go back to sleep right after Li’, this will make you feel better.”  
Liam whimpered but nodded anyways pushing himself up on the bed into a sitting position with Louis’ help. Harry handed Louis the bottle of water as the older boy popped a tabled out of its package. “Thanks.”  
After Liam swallowed the pill and Zayn made him drink half the bottle of water, Harry handed him the toast. “Do you want some soup too Li’?”  
Liam shook his head, nibbling at his toast, managing nearly the whole thing before laying back down. Harry covered him with a blanket and turned to Louis. “He’ll hopefully sleep until tomorrow morning now.”  
Louis nodded thoughtfully. It was half past eight at the moment and he was pretty tired as well to be honest. “I think I will crash too to be honest.”  
Harry patted his shoulder. “Yeah mate, get some rest. He will be better already tomorrow, yeah?”  
Louis sighed. “I hope so. It was roughly a day and I already want nothing more than him to get better.”  
“Me too mate.”, Niall said. “We will let you two sleep then.”  
Harry turned to Zayn. “Will you join us in our room for a bit before going to sleep as well or stay here?”  
Zayn smiled. “I think I’ll also go to sleep. The drive made me pretty tired and I got little sleep last night.”  
Louis sighed heavily and Harry shot him a glance. “Alright. We can continue talking tomorrow.  
Zayn and Louis said good night to Niall and Harry, promising them to get them if something was wrong with Liam and were alone again. Zayn was quiet for a few minutes before turning to Louis. “This is a mess.”  
Louis nodded slowly, deciding that he could not ignore Zayn forever. “Yeah, hit him pretty hard.”  
Zayn seemed a bit surprised by Louis neutral tone, but just continued with their conversation. “I have not seen him like this since the X-factor.”  
Now this was a theme Louis was really interested in. “Was is that bad?”  
Zayn shrugged. “I mean, you can’t really compare it, because he had not had a fever back then but yeah… Pretty bad.”  
Louis bit his lip. “Tell me more ‘bout this please. Sorry but he really scared me earlier.”  
Zayn smiled slightly. “Well….

 

Liam stood on the edge of his bed. Zayn blinked, wondering what the hell was going on because shouldn’t Liam be asleep? “Zayn?”, he whispered and Zayn instantly was more awake, because Liam’s voice sounded somehow… off. He sat up quickly. “What’s up? Are you okay?”  
Liam whimpered. “Sorry for waking you.”  
Zayn shook his head slightly. “Don’t worry mate, just tell me what’s wrong.”  
Liam took a deep breath and let out a strangled sob, which really alarmed Zayn.”Li’?”  
Liam sobbed again. “My head just hurts so much.”  
Zayn swore under his breath, because it must be serious if Liam cried. “C’mere mate. Do you want something to drink?”  
Liam slowly crawled into Zayns bed, hiding his face in Zayns shoulder.”Just make it stop please.”  
Zayn swallowed hard because he wanted to, but he had no idea how. He quickly climbed out of his bed. “Stay here, I’ll be back in a second.”  
Liam answered nothing to that and Zayns walking got faster. He came back a minute later with water and an aspirin. He handed the bottle to Liam. “Here, drinking normally helps.”  
Liam’s hand was shaking as he made a move to grab the water bottle. He took a sip and handed it back to Zayn, breathing heavily. Zayn sighed. “You need to drink more Li’.”  
Liam whimpered. “Can’t. ‘M so nauseous.”   
Zayn bit his lip, because this was getting worse instead of better. “Shall we- you know- go to the bathroom?”  
Liam sobbed quietly. His voice was shaky. “I think so.”  
Zayn helped Liam to get into the bathroom, carefully lowering the younger boy on the floor before shutting the door and turning on the light.   
“No please.”, Liam cried out, seemingly in a massive amount of pain. “Too bright.”  
Zayn quickly turned to lights off again, apologizing frantically to Liam. He seemed to finally catch up with what was going on. “Li’?”, he whispered. “Do you get Migraines often?”  
Liam swallowed. “’S gettin’ better. Was worse when I was younger.”  
Zayn rubbed his back, sighing because he hated seeing Liam in pain.   
“Something I can get you to help?”  
Liam nodded, whimpering again as pain shot through his skull. “No, I’ll just have to-“  
He stopped mid-sentence, leaning over the toilet bowl, retching.  
Zayn comforted him until the bout of sickness was over, and Liam leaned back against him. He grabbed a wet cloth and carefully wiped it over Liam’s pale face. “Do you want to drink something now? Do you feel better?”  
Liam took a deep shuddering breath.”Please.”, he mumbled and Zayn handed him the bottle of water. He waited for Liam to drink and patted his shoulder carefully. “Better now?”, he repeated his question.  
Liam shook his head, his eyes watering. “I hate this.”, he sobbed. “Get it out of my head please.”  
Zayn felt his heart shatter because he did not like this at all.”Let’s get you to your bed, sleep this out yeah?”, he whispered.   
Liam nodded slowly but made no move to stand up. Zayn sighed as he slid his arms under Liam’s body, carefully lifting the younger boy up, trying not to jostle him too much. 

 

“He went to sleep right away after that and woke up nearly back to normal. Just had a bit of a headache you know? He wouldn’t stop apologizing thought.”, Zayn finished.  
Louis swallowed, because he had no idea. “You should have woke us. We would have helped.”  
Zayn smiled. “It’s alright Louis. This was nearly five years ago.”  
“Right.”, Louis mumbled.”How often did this happen.”  
Zayn shrugged. “About three times at the X-factor and once at the beginning of the Up All Night – Tour. Never after that thought. I mean not that bad at least.”  
Louis frowned. “What?”  
“I mean he did wake me up sometimes, but it was never like in the X-factor and it only happened like once in two months.”  
Louis looked shocked. “Where was I when he woke you up.”  
Zayn looked down at his feet. “Asleep.”, he mumbled. “But in most cases he just swallowed a pill and went right back to sleep. It would have been no difference if you helped or not. Don’t worry.”, he added quickly when he saw the look on Louis’ face. He did not really know what the difference to the afternoon was know, but he really wanted to keep the conversation going. He did not talk to Louis like that since March.  
“When was the last time he woke you up because of that?”, Louis asked quietly.  
Zayn sighed. “Louis please don’t do this to yourself.”  
“Zayn when?!”  
“February.”  
Louis hid his face in his hands. “Oh god.”  
“Why does this bother you that much Lou’?”  
“Because I thought we were closer than this okay? At first he calls you because I’m not good enough for him and then you tell me that- I just- I just thought that he trusted me more than that.”  
“You know that it’s not like that.”, Zayn said. “You are exaggerating this whole thing.”  
Louis was silent for a few seconds, clearly not interested in this conversation anymore. “That I’m talking to you does not mean that we’re all good again.”, he said then, because he needed Zayn to know this. Needed to let him know that just because he shows up at their hotel out of nowhere, he won’t just forget the last months.   
Zayn looked down on his hands. “Yeah, figured it out.”, he mumbled.  
There was awkward silence for the second time today and Louis was the first one to break it. “I will go to sleep now. Wake me up if there is something going on with Liam.”  
Zayn nodded. “’Course.”  
“No I’m serious Zayn. Wake me please.”, Louis said again, because he wanted to be awake and here for Liam this time.   
Zayn chuckled lightly. “I will Louis. I promise.”  
Louis woke up the next morning with a warm weight beside him – a really hot weight to be honest. He checked to time firstly – it was 8:12 am – and turned over then. Liam was snuggled in the spare covers on the other side of his bed, stirring a bit restlessly. He looked over to Zayn who was already awake, scrolling through his phone.   
“Zayn?”, Louis whispered, catching the other boys attention. Zayn placed his phone on his night stand. “What’s Liam doing in your bed?”  
Louis shrugged. “I was going to ask you this.”  
Liam started to sit up at this very moment. “Lou’? Z’?”  
Louis smiled. “Hi there Li’, how are ya’ doin’?”   
Liam looked at him with glassy eyes and Louis winced slightly. “’M feelin’ okay.”  
Zayn stood up from his bed. “Time to take your temperature and get some meds into you.”  
Louis watched as Zayn grabbed everything from his night stand, sticking the thermometer in Liam’s mouth, pulling it out after it beeped.  
Zayn seemed not to shocked and Louis was already relieved by that. “So?”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating for this long, I did not really have time to write. Hope you enjoy!

Zayn turned the thermometer more to the left so that Louis could see the display. “It’s down to 38.3.”  
Louis nodded, because that was the lowest Liam’s temperature was since the last 24 hours and he was really glad about that. “Seems like his body is finally reacting to something we try.”, he said.  
Zayn popped out a pill and grabbed a bottle of water. “Here Li,” he said, sitting down on the bed next to Liam. “Take this.”  
Liam reached for the medicine and raised the bottle of water to his lips. He swallowed the pills and sighed. Zayn patted his shoulder gently. “How are you feelin’ mate?”  
Liam shrugged slightly. “Better.”, he said, smiling a bit. “I’m better.”  
Louis nodded, kind of relieved. “That’s really good Li’. You should eat something, yeah?”  
“Yeah, alright.”, Liam said, trying to stand up.   
Louis was at his side instantly. “What are you doing mate?”  
Liam paused. “I just want to walk around for a bit, I can’t lie down anymore. I’ve been in bed for ages. Besides, I have to pee as well.”  
Zayn reached down to help Liam up. “Just be careful Li’.”  
“I feel fine Zayn, honestly. Not sick at all.”  
Zayn smiled sadly. “Yeah that’s because the meds are kicking in yeah? Just go into the bathroom and lie down again after that.”  
Liam made a grumpy face. “I’ve been sleeping long enough that I will never need to sleep again.”, Liam said. “I have not seen you in months Zayn, I really don’t want to be asleep the whole time you’re here.”, he added quietly.   
Louis could not help but roll his eyes slightly at this. Zayn bit his lip. “We can talk when you are better Liam.”  
“I AM better.”  
“Just until the meds wear off. You need all rest you can get and we both know it.”  
Liam made a frustrated sound and made his way over to the bathroom.  
Zayn turned to Louis, because he felt like the older boy should say something too. “What?”, Louis asked.  
“You could have helped a bit, he can’t just go around pretending everything’s fine.”, Zayn hissed.  
“You sound like a crazy mother. It’s Liam, he won’t listen to anything you tell him if he is determined not to do it.”  
Zayn sighed. “I know, I’m just worried.”  
Liam emerged from the bathroom at that very moment. He looked at Louis. “Where are Harry and Niall? Can’t we just go into their room and… do something?”  
Louis shrugged. “You need to take things slowly Li’. You’re still sick and you’ve still got a fever.”  
Liam sighed deeply. “Please? I feel good right now, I don’t want to run a marathon, I just want to get out of this room for a bit.”  
“Yeah fine, we can head over to Harry and Niall.”, Louis mumbled, earning a look from Zayn.   
After a few minutes – Liam wanted to shower first - they headed over to the other room. Louis walked as close to Liam as humanly possible, because he was a bit worried to be honest. Liam still radiated heat and Louis knew that the exhaustion will come back sooner or later. Zayn seemed to be just as worried as Louis himself because he practically asked every few minutes whether Liam was alright or not. Liam seemed not too annoyed, just glad that Zayn – his Zayn – was here again.   
Louis knocked on Harrys and Niall’s door. He could hear something behind the door, which clearly meant that the two boys were already awake. The door opened and Harry stood in front of them. “Liam!”, he exclaimed. “What are you doing out of bed?”  
Liam shrugged. “I feel better. I wanted to do something.”  
Harry looked at Louis and Zayn after he led Liam into their room. “Wow, was he magically healed or…?”  
Zayn chuckled. “Just on heavy medication, let’s hope he it does not wear off until he gets his next dose.”  
Niall joined them while Liam settled down on the big sofa. “When does he have to take it next?”  
“In the evening.”, Zayn said.  
“So what do you want to do Li’?”, Harry asked as the other boys and him sat down on the sofa next to the sick boy.   
“I dunno, we could play something on the PS4 yeah?”  
Zayn wrapped one arm around Liam as the younger boy snuggled into his side. “You should eat something Li’.”  
Liam nodded and Niall stood up. “I think we have something from our breakfast left. Wait a second. Lou’? Zayn? You guys want something too?”  
Louis and Zayn nodded as they have not eaten anything yet too and Niall came back a few minutes later with toast, cereal and some juices.”   
They sat together talking a bit for a few minutes, eating their breakfast, before Liam sat up a bit. “So, what shall we play?”  
Harry shrugged. “Your choice.”  
It almost felt like the old times again when they finally chose what to play. Everything was comfortable, a bit like Zayn never left.   
Louis did notice that Liam got quieter after a few hours, though. He leaned over a bit. “Li’?”  
Liam looked at him sleepily, his cheeks already got that unhealthy flush again. “Hm?”  
The other boys were not noticing their conversation as they were too busy playing. “Are you feeling okay?”  
Liam sighed. “’M alright. Just tired.”  
Louis rolled his eyes. “Right.”, he mumbled. He knew that Liam should rest now but he also knew that the younger boy was way too stubborn. He seemed so happy that Zayn was there that Louis even almost forgot his bitterness towards the ex band mate. He draw his attention to the TV screen again, because discussing with Liam would be pointless.   
Roughly two hours later Zayn noticed a warm weight on his chest. He glanced down at Liam, who was lying across him now, frowning. “Liam?”, he asked, checking whether the boy was asleep or not.  
“Yeah?”, Liam mumbled.   
“Let’s get you to bed yeah?”  
Liam just nodded, which worried Zayn even more. He reached over to feel Liam’s forehead. It was burning hot. Zayn sighed. He turned to Harry, who was sitting right next to him. “I think Liam needs to go to sleep now.”  
Harry immediately looked at Liam and Zayn worriedly, grimacing when he took in the sight of Liam. The boy looked exhausted and feverish again. Louis and Niall now also noticed what was going on. “Yeah, c’mon Li’, let’s get you into our room.”, Louis said, rubbing Liam’s shoulder gently.  
Liam mumbled something unintelligent and snuggled deeper into Zayns shirt. “Li’, you need to stand up.”, Zayn told the younger boy.   
Liam shook his head, whimpering slightly. “’M tired.”  
Louis took a deep breath. “C’mon mate it’s just a few steps to our room.”  
The younger boy shook his head. “No, my head hurts.”  
Zayn sighed. “I will carry him.”, he decided, standing up to get closer to the sick boy.  
Liam mumbled something while Zayn slipped his hands under his shoulders and knees.   
“Do you need help?”, Harry asked, moving closer to the boys.   
Zayn shook his head, lifting Liam up carefully. “I’ve got him.”  
Automatically, Liam wrapped his arms around Zayns neck as the older boy carried him towards the door. Louis stood up as quickly as possible, practically running after Zayn and Liam to make sure that Zayn does not hurt the younger boy. “Don’t drop him.”, he hissed but he got no answer.   
Zayn gently laid Liam down onto his bed, cowering him with his blanket. Liam snuggled into his pillows, breathing heavily. “We should take his temperature before he goes to sleep.”, Harry said, already handing the thermometer over to Zayn.  
“39.9”, Zayn mumbled after the thing beeped, sighing heavily.  
“What?!”, Louis exclaimed loudly. “But he was better, he-“  
“Lou’, it’s normal that his temperature rises and falls alright?”, Harry said, and Louis knew this – ‘course he did – but it still worried him. He just wanted Liam to be fine again.   
“I think we should just let him sleep for a bit.”, Harry said.  
Liam forced his eyes open again, grapping Zayns hand weakly. “Don’t leave.”  
Louis heart skipped a beat at this. “I won’t mate.”, Zayn said, rubbing Liam’s hand slightly.  
Liam obviously struggled to hold his eyes open, trying not to fall asleep in case Zayn will leave again. “Please don’t leave again.”, he mumbled. “Please…”  
Liam began sobbing after this and Zayn looked around only to be met with three helpless looking faces. “I will stay here with you Li’.”  
“You promised.”, Liam whispered, seeming not really aware of anything Zayn said. “You didn’t call. I missed you so much.”  
Zayn looked like he was holding his breath, not daring to move or even make a sound.   
Liam seemed to panic more and more, not really able to catch his breath. He kept mumbling ‘don’t leave me’ over and over again and Zayn felt like he was frozen. Louis was the first one to snap out of his shock, striding over to Liam, shoving Zayn out of the way roughly in the progress.   
“Calm down Li’, everything is fine, we’re all here.”, Louis said, trying to keep his tone calm. Liam practically threw himself into Louis arms, continuing to sob hysterically.   
Louis just held him, rocking the two of them back and forwards slightly. “I think he’s a bit delirious.”, he whispered towards Harry after Liam had calmed down a little.  
Harry nodded surprisingly cool while Niall went to get a cold cloth. Louis just continued to hug Liam, feeling the younger boy relax more and more.  
Liam fell asleep a few minutes after this, the cold cloth draped over his forehead. Louis stood up carefully, taking in his first impression of Zayn. The boy looked terrified and while he kind of deserved it, Louis felt bad for him. They were kind of still friends after all.  
“I did not know that-“, Zayn started, swallowing hard. “I didn’t know that it affected him so much.” Louis held back a snort, because he totally told Zayn how much it affected Liam, but he guessed that it was much more traumatic to hear it out of Liam’s mouth.  
He was obviously in shock and Niall patted his back quietly. “He has a high fever mate, don’t think about this too much.”  
“But it’s the truth isn’t it?”, Zayn asked, without expecting to get an answer. “God, I’m so fucking stupid.”  
“Zayn-“  
“No Harry, he fucking hates me.”, Zayn continued to rant.   
“Can you shut up please, Liam could not hate you, even if he wanted to. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.”, Louis hissed taking a step towards Zayn.  
Harry quickly stepped in between the two boys. “Louis stop.”, he said. “And Zayn, you should probably talk to Liam as soon as he is well enough to sort things out.”  
Zayn looked each boy in the face and no one besides him seemed to be very shocked about Liam’s outburst, which clearly meant that they all knew how upset Liam was. He took a deep breath. “Yeah, I will talk to him. Sorry guys.”  
“Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it seems, he is just not feeling well. You’re still one of his best mates.”, Niall told him, smiling.   
Zayn just nodded. He already felt nervous at the thought of the conversation he had to have with Liam. This was not going to be easy.


	10. Chapter 10

Zayn was still more than shocked while Harry tucked Liam in carefully. Niall patted his back. “You alright?”  
Zayn smiled shakily. “Everything is just a bit too much at the moment. You know, I have not seen you for months and suddenly I am here and Liam is so sick… I’m just overwhelmed.”  
Niall nodded. “He will be better soon yeah? And then we will sort everything out.”  
“Do you think he will forgive me?”, Zayn asked and he sounded much younger than he really was.   
“I don’t think he was ever mad at you.”, Niall sighed.  
“He is upset.”, Zayn mumbled.  
“Yeah, that’s what you two need to talk about right?”  
“Louis told me that he was crying hard enough to… you know… make himself kind of… sick?”, Zayn said, making it sound like a question because he still hoped for someone to deny it.  
Niall sighed. “Yeah…”, he mumbled not really looking at Zayn.   
“How often?”  
“Zayn…”  
Zayn closed his eyes. “Please just tell me how often it happened.”  
“I didn’t really count. Maybe three or four times.”, Niall said.  
Harry and Louis came closer now, joining their conversation. Zayn swallowed hard. “What did he say?”  
Harry had heard most of the conversation. “He did not say much, he just cried.”, Harry told him. “But he said that he understands your decision.”, he quickly added when he saw the look on Zayns face.   
“Of course he understands, everyone understands. You can’t proceed to do something you don’t want to do anymore.”, Louis cut in, surprising everyone.  
“If you understand then why are you so mad? Why is Liam so mad?”, Zayn asked quietly.  
“You can be so stupid Zayn, did you even listen?”, Louis got a bit furious now. “I am mad because you dropped us like a used tissue or something. I am mad because you did not even bother to call. I am mad because Liam cried himself to sleep for almost two weeks and we couldn’t do anything to help him. You don’t understand what the problem is alright? Liam is not mad, but he is upset, because he lost one of his best friends… No don’t even argue about this Zayn, you may think differently but he definitely feels like he has lost you.”  
Zayn swallowed hard. “This is so fucked up. I have fucked this up. I am so sorry.”  
Zayn was not just apologizing to Louis for this in special, he was apologizing for everything that had happened in the last four months. “I was just scared of your reaction. I thought you were mad.”  
Louis sighed. “What about the passive-aggressive Twitter comments?”  
“I don’t know why I did this. At first I thought that I was just mad at you for interfering in my life but I realized that Shahid is kind of stupid. You were right and I did not want to believe this back then.”  
“He really is kind of stupid.”, Louis mumbled, then he looked up at Zayn smiling. “I’m sorry. I was also kind of stupid.”  
Zayn smiled shyly too. “Not as stupid as I was.”, he said. “Friends?”  
Louis grinned. “Yeah. Friends.”  
Harry and Niall could not help but grin as well. It felt really good to see Zayn and Louis talking normally instead of fighting.   
Zayn seemed to remember something and his smile fell a bit. “Liam is still ma- … He is still upset.”  
Louis sighed. “Yeah.”, he said. “You will have to talk to him as soon as he is well again.”

When Liam woke up the next time it was not pretty. Harry was alone with him while the other three boys were out, eating something. He was on his phone, scrolling through his Instagram- Feed when Liam became restless. He glanced at the clock. 7:23 pm. Time for some more medication anyways. He just hoped that Liam’s fever was not too bad by now – of course, he was not that lucky.   
Liam opened his eyes groggily, looking around for a few seconds before noticing Harry. He whimpered and Harry jumped to his feet. “How are you feeling Liam?”  
“Zayn.”, was all the sick boy brought out.  
“He will be here soon mate.”, Harry soothed, but Liam did not seem to listen to any of his words.  
“He left again.”, Liam whispered and Harry shook his head fiercely.  
“NO! No, Li’, he is here, he just went to eat something.”  
“Did Louis leave too now? And Niall? Why ‘s everyone leavin’ me?”  
Harrys stomach dropped at this. “We are all still here Liam.”, he said, even thought he was fairly sure that the other boy did not hear a word he said. Harry felt the heat radiating from Liam’s body even from where he stood and he was pretty sure that the boy was delirious again.   
“Please.”, Liam sobbed and Harry had no idea for what he was pleading.  
Liam’s pale as a ghost under the hectic flush of the fever and his voice sounded like it belonged to someone else. He looked like someone else and Harry didn’t want anything more to do with this shivering, washed out imitation of Liam.  
He took himself together and climbed into bed with the sick boy. Liam immediately clung to him like his life depended on it and Harry held him with the same determination.   
He did not know how long he sat there, holding Liam close but eventually the door opened and Niall, Louis and Zayn stood in the doorframe. They looked alarmed and Harry knew how scary this must’ve looked, given that Liam was still sobbing hysterically.   
Louis was the first one approaching them. “What happened?”  
“He’s delirious.”, Harry whispered. He locked eyes with Zayn then. “You should… You know…. He thought you left.”  
Zayn jumped into action at this information. “Liam.”, he said, sitting down as close to the younger boy as possible. “Liam, c’mon look at me.”  
Liam looked up hesitantly and his eyes went wide. “Zayn.”, he sobbed.   
Zayn was a bit overwhelmed by the situation but he refused to let Liam notice this. “Calm down, I’m right here.”  
Liam let out another strangled sob, then he wrapped his arms around Zayn. The older boy hugged him back tightly, whispering comforting things into his ear, rocking him back- and forwards slightly.   
Harry – feeling no longer needed on the bed – stood up slowly. “We should give him his medication. You got him something to eat?”  
Louis held up a paper bag numbly. “Yeah. Sure.”  
After handing the bag over to Harry, Louis grabbed the thermometer and a bottle of water, joining Harry by the bed. “You need this?”  
“Yes, thank you Lou’. He just took his medication.”, Harry said. “Here, you should drink something Li’.”, he told Liam, handing him the bottle.  
Liam took a few sips and shakily handed it back to Harry. Harry unpacked the food in the meantime. “It’s chicken soup.”, Louis mumbled. “I also bought him a spoon.”  
Harry smiled. “Great. Thanks Lou’.”  
Harry carefully set up anything before handing it to Zayn who carefully helped Liam with eating.   
“Just a few more spoons Li’. Please.”, Zayn pleaded.  
Liam shook his head. “I just wanna sleep.”, he mumbled, eyelids already dropping.   
“Right okay.”, Harry said, taking everything back, placing it on Liam’s nightstand. “We will let him sleep.”  
Zayn stood up carefully after he was sure that Liam was asleep.   
Louis looked at Harry with a serious expression. “We have a concert in Vienna tomorrow.”  
Harry sighed. “I know.”  
“There is no fucking way that he will be able to perform if he is not at least two hundred percent better tomorrow.”, Louis said.   
Harry closed his eyes. “I’m sure that he will be better. He is going to insist on doing the show.”  
“Well we won’t let him right?”, Louis asked.  
Harry did not answer.  
“Right?!”, Louis voice was a bit louder this time.   
Harry sighed. “He will have to Louis and you know that. We can’t do anything about that.”, he said slowly. “Besides… We won’t be able to do a whole show with just the three of us. That would be too much for us.“  
Louis looked ready to protest but just groaned after a short pause. “I know.”, he whispered. “I’m just afraid that he will be worse or something after that.”  
Harry nodded. “Yeah, me too… The show won’t be in another 24 hours, maybe he is better then.” Harry tried to sound positive but failed. He also wanted nothing more than Liam to get better and he knew that singing a concert would not help with this.  
Zayn bit his lip awkwardly. He should probably feel guilty because if he would still be in the band, Liam could sit the concert tomorrow out without a problem, but he did not. His decision still felt right. “We will ask Paddy later.”  
Harry and Louis nodded. “How was dinner?”, Harry asked.   
Louis grinned at Zayn and Niall. “Really nice.”  
Harry smiled. “Good to hear.”  
“We brought you your… You know… Vegetable stuff.”, Niall said and Harry laughed at how disgusted his voice sounded.   
“Thank you guys.”, Harry said, opening the box Niall handed him. 

It was nearly 11:00 pm when Niall and Harry stood up. “We will leave you and Liam alone now.”, Harry said.   
Zayn smiled. “Alright, see you tomorrow.”  
“It was really nice to- you know… spend an evening together like we used to.”, Niall said, grinning at Zayn.   
The older boy nodded. “We need to do this more often.”  
“Definitely.”, Louis agreed.  
“It’s still so good to see you two being in good terms again.”, Harry said.  
Louis nodded. “Feels really good too.”, he mumbled.  
“Alright then, see ya.”, Niall said, waving a last goodbye.  
Louis closed the door behind them and looked at Liam. The medicine had kicked in a few hours ago and the younger boy was now sleeping peacefully. “So what are you going to do tomorrow?”, he asked, turning to Zayn.   
Zayn shrugged, sighting. “I have no idea. Apologize?”  
“Sounds like a good start.”  
“Do you think that he’ll-“, Zayn started.  
“Yeah. Yeah of course. Just promise him to call.”, Louis said, knowing what Zayn wanted to ask.   
“I will.”  
“And don’t break your promise this time.”, Louis whispered.  
“I won’t.”  
“Good.”


	11. Chapter 11

Zayn woke up in the middle of the night. He blinked, confused. It was a bit past 3 am. Why the fuck was he awake? That was the exact moment where he became aware of strange noises. It sounded a bit like a hurt animal and he was not sure what it was. He glanced over and Liam and suddenly, he was not confused and tired anymore. More like wide awake and alarmed.   
Liam was whimpering and trashing in his bed. He seemed to be sleeping and it looked like he was having a nightmare.   
Zayn was on his feet and by Liam’s side in the time span of five seconds. Liam was pale and shaky and tears streamed down his face – all in all it was not a calming sight.   
Zayn considered what he should do now because it was kind of in the middle of the night and he was not expecting this. He took a deep breath because his breathing was getting way too fast and panicky.   
Okay, he should probably wake up Liam firstly, because the younger boy seemed to be in a lot of stress right now and then he would better wake up Louis because the older boy would most likely kill him if he didn’t.   
He gently shook Liam’s shoulder. He younger boy stirred and whimpered again. “Liam, everything is alright. You just have to wake up.”, he whispered.   
Liam mumbled something and opened his eyes. He looked at Zayn and let out a strangled sob. “Why are you here?”  
Zayn furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “Of course I’m here Li’, I came a few days ago. You do remember this right?”  
Liam nodded slightly. “But you left.”, he mumbled hectically. “You told me… You told me you’d hate me and then- then you just left again.”   
Zayn froze for a moment because he was the one Liam had a nightmare about. “I would never say that Li’, it was just a dream okay? Everything is alright.”  
Liam seemed to calm down a bit. “You won’t leave?”  
Zayn hesitated for a few seconds. “No… not yet.”  
Liam nodded sadly. “Figured…”, he said. “Where is Lou’?”. His breathing quickened again.  
“He’s right here, just asleep don’t worry. Do you want me to wake him up?”  
Liam seemed to think about this offer for a bit but shook his head. “Let him sleep, I don’t want to bother him at night too now.”  
“You aren’t bothering anyone mate. Louis even told me to wake him if anything was wrong with you.”  
Liam’s face visibly lit up at this. “He did?”, he asked. “I mean no- don’t wake him. I’m okay.”  
Zayn placed his palm on Liam’s forehead. “Are you?”, he muttered. “You fever hasn’t broken yet.”, he sighed.  
“I feel better. Just tired.”, Liam mumbled, half asleep already.  
Zayn smiled. “Go back to sleep then. I will be there when you wake up and the other boys too yeah?”  
Liam’s lips curved up a bit too, eyes already closed. “Yeah.”, he sighed and forced his eyes open again. “Can you sleep with me tonight?”, he asked shyly.  
Zayn smiled. Maybe Liam really was not that mad at him. “Of course Li’. Scoot over.”  
Zayn nearly got emotional when Liam wrapped his arms around him tightly and snuggled into his side. This was something the younger boy hadn’t done in years.  
Zayn hugged Liam protectively and closed his eyes. He had really missed his boys.   
The next time Zayn woke up, it already was 10 am. Liam was still snuggled into his chest, sounding deep asleep but Louis seemed to be awake.   
“Something happened while I was asleep?”, Louis asked.  
Zayn hesitated a second before shaking his head. “He had a bad dream but seemed alright after he woke up. Wanted to sleep in my bed thought.”  
Louis sighed. “I hate that I’m such a deep sleeper.”  
Zayn grinned. “You did not miss out on anything.”, he said. “He was awake for a minute and went right back to sleep.”  
“How is he?”  
Zayn checked Liam’s temperature again with his palm. “He is still running a decent fever but it’s not as high as it was. I’m not a thermometer thought.”  
Louis nodded. “Right”, he mumbled. “Shall we wake him then?”  
Zayn shrugged. “Think so. It’s time to take get some meds into him anyways.”  
He patted Liam’s cheek slightly. “Wake up Li’.”  
Liam groaned. “Noooo… ‘M tired.”  
Louis stood up and got the thermometer and the medicine while Zayn continued to try and wake Liam. As he came back, Liam was already sitting in the bed, blinking at him tiredly. “Good. You’re up.”, he said cheerily. “How are you feeling.”  
Liam shrugged. “Alright.”, he sighed. “When is the concert?”  
Louis winced. “We have to be at the stadium in 9 hours or so probably. You think you’re up to it?”  
Liam closed his eyes for a few seconds. “I mean- I feel kind of better but still not that good.”, he mumbled. “I don’t really have a choice do I?”  
Louis winced slightly because if Liam said ‘not that good’ that meant that the boy was still feeling awful. He also knew that Liam was right. Doing a concert without him was not an option. “Don’t worry mate. We’ll have your back.”  
Zayn bit his lip, moving to check Liam’s temperature. “It’s 38.4. Not exactly low but better than it was.”  
Louis nodded. “It will get lower as soon as he takes the meds yeah?”, he asked, turning to Zayn. Zayn could not help but think that Louis looked much younger. So unsure and scared that he did not know how to react at first. Louis seemed to be really concerned about Liam doing the concert.   
He nodded slightly. “They should lower his temp yes.”, he said slowly. “He will be fine yeah?”  
Louis shrugged. “It’s just- you know… Doing a concert is exhausting enough on its own and I don’t want him to get worse if he does it with a fever.”  
“I’m sure Paddy will have some magic drugs or something to get him trough it yeah? Everything is going to be alright.”  
Louis nodded. “Yeah… right.”, he mumbled. “I think we should get him something to eat before he takes the meds. And us too.”  
Zayn nodded. “I will get Niall and Harry and order something okay?”  
Louis smiled. “Sounds good. Thanks.”  
As soon as Zayn was out of the door, Liam carefully pulled on Louis’ shirt. “What if I mess up?”  
Louis turned around. Liam looked scared and pale and Louis wanted to hug him – what he did. “I already told ya: We’ll have your back.”  
Liam burrowed his face into Louis’ chest. “What if I mess up my solos? What if I lose my voice or-“  
“No one will be mad, you are clearly unwell. Besides everything you mentioned happened to us sometime before. It was no big deal then.”, Louis interrupted him.  
“Zayn was there then.”, Liam whispered.  
Louis locked eyes with the younger boy. “Look at me Liam.”, he said firmly. “We can do this without him. We got through things way worse remember? We are a great team and a family yeah? We got this.”  
Liam smiled slightly. “Yeah… Alright. Thanks Lou’”  
Louis smiled slightly, trying to hide how worried he himself actually was. “Are you hungry?”  
“Kind of.”, Liam shrugged. “Not really, but a bit. Appetite’s comin’ back a little.”  
“That’s good.”, Louis said. “Harry, Niall and Zayn will get something.”  
“I heard that yeah.”, Liam smiled. He paused a bit. “Are you and Zayn… you know… good?”, he asked hesitantly.   
Louis hugged him a bit tighter. “Yeah, we spoke ‘bout some things. Still a bit uncomfortable but we’re good.”, he told him. “What about you?”  
Liam sighed. “I’m not mad at him.”, he mumbled. “Just a bit… upset about some things.”  
Louis nodded. “Yeah. That’s what I told him. You need to talk.”  
Liam swallowed, exhausted. “Will do that later.”  
“’Course mate. You need to get well firstly.”  
Liam sobbed. Louis looked at him, shocked, because where did that come from. Liam was…  
kind of fine a few seconds ago. At least a lot more fine than yesterday. “Li’! What’s wrong?”  
Liam sobbed again. “I’m sorry for calling him! I just- I didn’t know what else to do.”  
Louis sighed. So that was what was going on in Liam’s head. “I’m not mad Li’. I was kind of   
shocked at first but you know… It was important for all of us to see him again yeah?”  
Liam seemed to calm down a bit. “Okay.”, he whispered. “You will always be my best friend Lou’.”  
Louis could not help but grin at this. “Glad to hear that Li’. Ur my boy too.”  
“I-“, Liam began but was interrupted by the door opening. Harry, Niall and Zayn came through the door, carrying bags with most likely breakfast in them.  
“Who is hungry?”, Harry cheered.  
“Me!”, Niall exclaimed before joining Louis and Liam on the bed. “How are ya feelin’ mate?”  
Liam smiled. “Better.”  
“That’s good to hear.”, Niall said. “We brought you toast with butter and jam but you could also have eggs or something.”  
Liam shook his head. “Thank you but toast is just fine.”, he said.   
Harry placed the bags on the table under the window. “Do you want to eat in bed or-“, he began.  
“No.”, Liam interrupted quickly. “I’ve been in bed for ages. We can eat on the table.”  
Harry nodded. “Alright. Do you want some tea or orange juice?”  
Liam nodded. “Yes please. Sounds nice. I would like to have some tea.”  
Harry smiled. “’Course buddy.”  
Liam stood up shakily, swaying a bit. Zayn supported him worriedly. “You good?”  
Liam nodded slowly. “Just stood up too fast.”, he mumbled. “I’m fine.”  
Zayn helped him to sit down at the table, patting his back gently while Harry placed a steaming cup of tea in front of him.   
“Thank you.”, Liam smiled.   
Everyone took a seat, Louis to his left and Zayn to his right. It almost felt like they were back in the old times.   
Liam took his medicine and they ate in comfortable silence. Harry was the first one to break it. “Zayn told me that you’re worried about the concert.”, he said, turning to Liam.  
Liam nodded. “Yeah, I already talked to Lou’ about this thought. I feel a bit better now.”  
“Just remember that we will be there the whole time, yeah?”, Harry said, smiling reassuringly.   
“We will help you if you need us and you can always take a short break backstage.”, Niall added.   
Liam smiled. “Thanks boys.”

They sat together a bit after that, Liam noticed that the meds were kicking in and he was feeling better and better as the minutes went by with relief.   
At around 5 pm Paddy knocked on the door.  
“Hey boys.”, he said, after Niall opened the door for him. “We need to get in the bus now. We will be at the arena in an hour. He glanced at the TV-screen where Fifa was currently on. His gaze fell on Liam, who seemed to be asleep and sprawled out on Louis’ chest. “How is he?”, he asked.  
Louis sighed. “Better than he was yesterday but his temperature is raising again. It’s up to 38.9.”  
Paddy nodded, concerned. “We will give him another dose of his meds. If this is not enough the doc gave me a syringe too. We can do this okay? He will be fine.”  
Louis shrugged. “I don’t really want him to go on stage like this.”  
Paddy sighed. “Lou-“  
“I know!”, Louis interrupted him. “I know that there is no other option. I still don’t like it.”  
“Me neither.”, Paddy mumbled. “Do you want to wake him or shall I carry him.”  
Zayn bit his lip. “Let him sleep. Looks like he needs it.” 

They drove up to the venue a little over an hour later. Liam was still asleep.   
“We have to wake him up now. He needs to take his medicine to give it time to kick in.”, Paddy sighed.  
Louis bit his lip. Liam looked sweaty and pale and the last thing he wanted to do was waking him up. On the other hand, he wanted him to be fine for the concert of course. At least as fine as they could get him. “I will do it.”, he mumbled.


	12. Chapter 12

He was not really sure how he could wake Liam up as gently as possible. He approached the younger boy carefully and knelt down in front of him. He shook his shoulder. “Li’, you need to wake up.”  
Liam stirred slightly but showed no other signs of waking up. Louis sighed. “C’mon mate, work with us for a moment, we want to help you.”  
Louis waited for a few seconds but Liam still seemed to be in a deep sleep. He shook the younger boy again. This time, he blinked tiredly, looking around with glassy, unfocused eyes. “That’s it mate, can you sit up for me?”  
Liam whimpered, but fought his way up to a sitting position. Louis couldn’t help but notice again how much he hated this situation. Especially now, when they were about to do a concert while Liam was looking like he could pass out any moment.   
“How long till we have to go on stage?” a tiny voice cut through the silence and Louis looked back at Liam. The younger boys lip was quivering and Louis knew what that meant. “In about 2 hours,” he began, but hurried to finish, when Liam’s eyes watered, his facial expression changing into a desperate one. “but don’t worry Li’, you will feel a lot better as soon as the meds kick in.”  
Liam did not really look convinced.   
“We will have your back, remember?” Harry said, trying to look as positive as possible, doing his best to ignore the unhealthy color of Liam’s skin.  
“Yeah…” Liam mumbled.   
“Look Liam, that’s how we would want to do this,” Paddy started, “I will take Louis, Harry and Niall into the stadium while you’ll stay here with Zayn, take the pills, drink and eat something and rest until I come and get you. Alright?”  
Liam made eye contact with Louis for a second and the other boy looked furious. “This is not alright! Paddy this is bullshit, I will stay with him!”  
Paddy sighed. “Look Louis… We need you three to be already finished with hair and makeup until I go and get Liam because he should get as much rest here as possible and needs to get ready fast later. Zayn has nothing else to do and we don’t want him to be seen yet so… He stays here with Liam.”  
Louis looked ready to fight someone, so Paddy added a stern ‘no discussions!’  
Liam bit his lip slightly. “It’s alright Lou’, I won’t die or anything on Zayn’s hand. And I can look after myself quite well.   
Zayn nodded. “I’ve got this Louis.”  
Louis grumbled something under his breath and stomped out of the bus.  
Liam looked ready to burst into tears again. “Is he mad at me?”  
Harry sighed. “No Li’, it’s a bit complicated, but he is not mad at you.”  
“Promise”  
“Yeah, promise”, Harry said, because he did not really know how to explain this to a feverish Liam. Louis was not really mad at Liam, but the older boy was probably mad that Liam just accepted the fact that Louis would not stay with him. Louis reacted extremely sensitive when it came to this theme and it sure as hell hurt the boy when Liam ‘did not need him’, even thought this was not the case at all. Liam just did not want to get into a fight with anyone by contradicting somebody.   
“Alright mate, see ya in a bit. Get some rest!”, Niall said, as Harry, Paddy and he turned to leave the bus. “Don’t worry too much!”, Harry added, then they were gone.  
The door closed with a loud bang. Zayn turned to Liam, handing him a pack of crispbread. “Do you want to eat those with your meds? Paddy gave them to me.”  
Liam shrugged. “I’m not hungry…”  
“You need to eat something Li’”, Zayn pointed out gently. “You’ll get sick if you don’t and no one us wants that.”  
“Okay,” Liam mumbled. “I will eat this then.”  
There was a comfortable silence while Liam forced down a few slices of the crispbread and downed his meds with half a bottle of water.   
Zayn smiled. “Do you want to get some rest now? Shall I make the room darker or something?”  
Liam shook his head. “’M too nervous to sleep.”  
Zayn sighed, because Liam really should not think about everything so much. “Oh Li’… You should really sleep for an hour. You will feel better yeah?”  
Liam nodded slightly. “I still don’t think that I will be able to fall asleep.”, he mumbled, closing his eyes and positioning himself in a comfortable sleeping position. “I’m really sorry for calling you.”  
Zayn did not expect this. “What?”, he blurted out, shocked. “Why are you sorry?”  
Liam shrugged. “Was stupid. You clearly don’t want us in your lives anymore and I pressured you into coming. I’m sorry.”  
Zayn shook his head frantically. “This is not true Liam… I- You are one of my best mates!”  
Liam mumbled something sleepily and drifted off, leaving a shocked Zayn behind. The older boy did not really know what to do. He could only plan to talk to Liam about anything as soon as the boy was well again and wonder, if Liam would’ve ever told him those things if he wouldn’t have gotten this sick.   
When Paddy came in one and a half hour later, the situation had not really changed. Paddy seemed pleasured that Liam was sleeping peacefully. “Is his temperature down?”  
“I didn’t check,” Zayn whispered. “I did not want to risk waking him up.”  
“Alright, good job Zayn.” Paddy smiled. He approached the sleeping boy carefully. “Liam, you need to wake up.”  
Liam stirred, opening his eyes tiredly. “Wha’…”  
“I need to take your temperature.”  
Liam sat up slightly. “Okay…”  
Paddy placed the thermometer under Liam’s armpit. “How do you feel buddy?”  
“Better. A bit nervous.”  
The bodyguard nodded. “No need to, you’ll do great. And if you need anything, I’ll be right there.”  
The thermometer beeped. “37.6”, Paddy said, tensely – he obviously hoped for a lower number.   
“It went down.”, Zayn offered weakly, feeling disappointed himself.   
“I will take you backstage now, before Louis loses his mind.” Paddy said. “Zayn you’ll have to stay here until the concert is over because we don’t want any rumors to come up.”  
“Of course.” Zayn nodded. “See ya later Li’, you will be fantastic.”  
Liam shrugged and gave Liam a last weak smile before vanishing out of the door with Paddy.

“Finally,” was the first thing that came out of Louis’ mouth when Liam came into their dressing room “How are you feeling?”   
Liam tried to smile as positive as possible. “Great.”  
Louis gave him a look and turned to Paddy, “How is he feeling?”  
Paddy laughed slightly at the fatherly concern Louis was showing. “His temperature is down to 37.6.”, he sighed.   
Louis furrowed his brows. “That’s still a fever.”  
“I feel better!”  
Louis nodded jerkily, turning to Paddy again, “Can’t you give him the other thing? You said the doctor gave you something stronger right?”  
“Louis…” Paddy sighed. “He told me just to give it to Liam if his fever gets over 39 degrees. Only if there’s no other way.”  
“What needs to happen? Does he have to die before you’re allowed to give it to him?!”  
“Louis please, he knows what he’s doing. Please don’t make this more difficult than it really is.”  
“I’ll be fine Louis.”, Liam added in a tiny voice.   
“Yeah of course.”, the older boy grumbled, “I bet you will.”  
Louis stormed out of the room after this. Liam turned to Harry. “He IS mad at me right? Why? Has he said something?”  
Harry sighed. “Please don’t worry about this Li’… I already told you that he is not mad… He is just a bit bitter that you did not want him to stay.”  
“What? Who said I did not want him to- Paddy said- I- he-“  
“Calm down mate,” Niall said quickly. “He is just a bit bitchy. You’ve done nothing wrong.”   
Liam still looked a bit lost so Harry pushed him down on one of the chairs gently. “You need to get ready now yeah?”

“Time to hit the stage now boys.”   
Liam looked horrified at the tour manager, because he was NOT ready for this. What if he really fucked up? Harry seemed to notice – because you could not really not notice – and patted his shoulder comfortingly. “Remember what we told you.”  
Liam nodded. “Yeah… Let’s do this.”  
Liam knew that they had to get out any second now. He could hear the deafening screams of the crowd and the encore playing. He looked at his three band mates, standing around him in their circle. He heard the beginning of ‘Clouds’ setting in and this kind of was their Que. Everything went down way to fast and before he knew it, he found himself on stage in front of thousands of people, belting out his vocals.   
Louis did not try to interact with him for the first five songs – which went pretty well – but the older boy did give him a few worried glances.  
It was in the middle of their sixth song when Liam began to feel kind of funny. “Great…”, he mumbled, glancing over to Louis, who was sitting a few meters behind him. They made eye contact and Louis jumped up faster than he ever thought he could.   
Liam took his in-ears out as the older boy was beside him. “I don’t feel well.” he kind of screamed, because he was panicking a bit. Louis looked like he was ready to freak out too. “Do you want to go backstage?”  
Liam shook his head, because this was the worst possible moment for him to sneak out.   
Everything around him suddenly seemed way too hectic and loud and bright and he felt his eyes watering. This did not feel right at all and he suddenly felt a wetness on his cheeks. Louis said something to him but he could not really understand him. He felt himself getting led towards the back of the stage, his heart pounding in union with his head, his hands tingling uncomfortably.   
Louis was freaked out. The heat that was radiation off Liam big enough to make him wince and the younger boy was shaking – he had not said another word thought. He heard Harry and Niall entertaining the crowd faintly in the background.   
Liam seemed to calm down a bit as soon as they were off the stage, but he was still shaking like a leaf. Paddy approached them, taking one off Liam’s hand. “He is burning.” Louis said.   
“His hands are ice cold.” Paddy mumbled. “He’s having a shock or a panic attack or something.”  
“Lou’”, Liam groaned. “Please get Lou’”  
“I’m right here mate.”  
“I will give him the shot now. His fever went through the roof. Let’s hope it gets down fast, Harry can only control the situation for a certain amount of time… ”   
Louis stared at him, an expression of disbelief “You want to send him out there again?!”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for keeping you waiting, I had no internet recently.

Tell me if you’ve got any other ideas Louis.”  
“Well I mean, you could just NOT send him out there again?”  
“I would love to do that, I really would, but I’ve talked to Steve and he said that there is no possible way for you three to do the show on your own.”, Paddy told Louis, and the older boy finally got that Liam would have to do this even if he was against it.   
“Lou’”, Liam moaned. “Please…”   
Louis tightened his grip on Liam at this, because the other boys’ voice sounded so thin that it scared the shit out of him all over again.   
“I want my mom,” Liam whimpered “Please…”  
And ouch, this hurt Louis on a whole new level. He was not jealous of Liam’s mother – of course not – but he was hurting for his younger mate, who seemed to be in so much pain that he begged for his mom. Something a healthy Liam would never do – especially not in a room full of people.   
“I know Li’, I’m so sorry.” he mumbled, hugging the other boy tightly and Liam clung to him like his life depended on it.   
Paddy pulled out the syringe the doctor gave him earlier, swallowing nervously. He had done this before, but it was different with Liam. The boy was shivering like a leaf and he kind of feared that he could hurt the boy. “I need you to lift his shirt”, Paddy told Louis. “Don’t worry Li’, I’m just trying to help you. You’ll feel much better in a minute.” Hopefully.  
Louis gently guided Liam into the chair someone had placed in the room and held his shirt up. Liam did not really react to this. Paddy knelt down in front of him, disinfecting the skin on the right side of Liam’s bellybutton. The lack of response they got from Liam was concerning – he did not even flinch when the needle broke through his skin.   
Paddy stood up again, turning to Louis. “I will stay with him for the next minutes, you should go back on stage.”  
Louis did not seem too appealed, but nodded bitterly. “Shall we continue with the next song or-“  
Paddy shook his head. “No, try to entertain them for another ten minutes, if he is not back then, you guys continue.”  
“10 minutes. Got it.” Louis said and turned to run back on stage.   
“Lou’… no,” Liam moaned. “Dn’t leave…”  
Paddy sighed. “Shhh Liam, I need you to stay calm and drink something now.”

Louis felt Harry and Niall’s concerned gazes burning through him as soon as he set a foot on the stage. He heard various people screaming his name, then screaming Liam’s name. He knew that he should probably say something about this, before some crazy speculations came up. “Liam’s not feeling too well at the moment, but he’s getting all patched up right now. He will be back in a few minutes.”  
Louis was sure, that this were the longest ten minutes he had ever experienced.   
Liam came back in after those ten minutes, the crowd erupting in hysterical screams, which made Liam flinch – but also smile a bit. “How are ya feelin’ mate?” Niall asked.   
“I’m good, ready to rock this!” Liam cheered, but Louis could hear the exhausted edge.   
Louis was standing close to Niall, who leaned in closer, taking out his in ears. “Shall Harry go backstage with him in the next pause? Y’know it’s our turn to speak then and someone should probably talk to Paddy while he gets his temp taken again yeah? Harry offered to do it.”  
Louis nodded. “Yeah, good plan!”  
Liam did feel better. He really did. His head was not pounding so much anymore and everything but he still did not feel good. Paddy told him that this was normal, the stuff they gave him sadly was not some kind of wonder healer. It should just help him to power through this performance. He hoped that he could really do this.   
Harry strode over to Liam as soon as Niall began talking. He grabbed the sick boys arm gently, grimacing at the intense heat that met his fingers. “C’mon Li’. We’re making a short break backstage.”  
Liam nodded thankfully and followed Harry to the back of the stage.   
Paddy was already waiting for them. “This is so stressful, I swear to god, no one of you is ever getting sick again!” the man grumbled. “How is it going Liam?”  
Liam smiled. “Better. It’s helping.”  
Paddy visibly relaxed. “I’m glad to hear that. How are you Harry”?  
“Good!” Harry smiled. “What kind of stuff did you give him?”  
Paddy waited until someone of the crew made Liam sit down and gave him a bottle of water before answering. “He was a mess Harry, his body was literally boiling! I had to inject him something. Worked very well I’d say. His temperate went down pretty fast and his mind cleared up a bit. He seemed kind of fine and ready when I sent him back on stage.”  
“And it will help him throughout the whole show?”  
Paddy shrugged. “I hope so. I really don’t want to repeat this.”  
Harry nodded. “We’re halfway through, he will manage this, he is a fighter… we should take his temperature again right?”  
“On it.” Paddy said, pulling the thermometer out of his back pocket.   
Harry watched silently, the voices of his other two bandmates in the background. They would have to be back on stage in the next five minutes.   
“38.3”, Paddy sighed. “At least it’s not getting higher.”  
Harry grimaced. “I hate this so much.”  
“You need to head back now.” Paddy sighed. “Make sure to keep him alive yeah?”  
Harry grinned slightly. “Will do.” he said while Liam laughed weakly. 

Liam wanted to cry in joy when their last song ended. He loved doing shows normally – of course he did, it was great, but this one was like torturing himself. He had thrown up twice earlier – Paddy had called the doctor at this point but it turned out that this was just his body reacting to the strong meds. They were all a bit freaked out after this thought, Louis was nearly hyperventilating behind him when he started heaving into the trash can someone had pushed into his arm. He could not really remember everything thought because he kind of started crying after the first round.   
But now it was over and he could head back into the privacy of the bus.   
Louis was all over him as soon as they were backstage. “Do you feel okay? Do you think you’re going to get sick again? Are you thirsty? Hungry? Do you need something else?”  
Liam smiled. “The show is over now Lou’. I will survive yeah?”

Zayn already waited for them when they came into the bus. He jumped up quickly. “What happened? Liam’s trending all over Twitter.”  
Harry sighed. “The show did not go down as smooth as we hoped it would.”  
“’M tired Lo’”, Liam mumbled and went limp, falling heavily into Louis’ side. The older boy could barely catch him. “Oh my god what’s going on now?” Louis cried out.   
“I think he just fell asleep Lou’, no need to worry. He must be exhausted.” Harry said. “Let’s lay him down.”  
They lowered Liam down onto the sofa carefully, trying not to wake him up.   
“Okay,” Zayn sighed. “So what happened at the show?”  
Louis took in a shaky breath. “Paddy had to inject him something after half an hour because his fever got too high but his body didn’t react well.”  
Zayn furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”  
“He got pretty sick. Twice.” Niall muttered.   
“But it helped him to pull through the show…”, Harry said, trying to sound cheerful.  
“The fans are freaking out,” Zayn began “Everyone is tweeting about how sick Liam looked. They are worrying”  
“They always are, we will just tweet something or whatever, I want to focus on Liam at the moment.” Louis snapped.   
Paddy got into the Bus a few minutes later. “Hey boys, how is he?”  
“Exhausted,” Harry mumbled. “He fell asleep right away, he was not even lying down yet.”  
Paddy grimaced. “This was horrible, I hope we never have to do this again,” he began, looking around between Harry, Niall and Louis. “You guys were doing great. I’m very proud of you. You helped him a lot.”  
Louis smiled. “It’s kind of our job.” he said. “He just looked so sick and pale…”  
“He did,” Paddy nodded. “But it’s over and he will be alright.”  
Paddy was gone a few minutes after that and the boys settled down on the large sofa that was currently not occupied by Liam. “Some of the fans are having a mental breakdown over this.” Louis muttered, scrolling through his Twitter-feed.   
“Just like you,” Harry grinned.   
“Oh shut up!” Louis said, but he was smiling too, “I’m serious boys, Liam is going to freak out. There are videos and even some articles already.”  
Zayn nodded. “He should focus on getting better at the moment thought. Besides, he did the show and he did well so no one can say something negative right?”  
“They always find something…” Louis grumbled.  
“We should not think about this now.” Harry cut in. “Let’s watch a movie or play something ‘till we arrive at the hotel.”  
“Sounds good.” Niall agreed.   
Liam slept through everything that day. He was not conscious when they reached the parking lot, not when Paddy carried him to his hotel room before taking his temperature again and he also did not wake up when Louis and Zayn talked for an hour or two before going to sleep as well.  
Liam woke up the next morning thought, feeling exhausted but surprisingly better. He sat up slowly and looked over to Louis’ sleeping form. He grimaced when a few memories from last night’s concert came into his mind, feeling instantly embarrassed. He also realized that he could not remember when he showered the last time. He stood up carefully, still feeling a bit dizzy. He swallowed and rubbed his temples. He still had a nasty headache.  
Carefully making his way into the big bathroom, Liam tried to be as quiet as possible.   
He went to the toilet and turned on the shower, slowly stepping in. He was in the bathroom for about ten minutes before someone pounded on the door.  
“LIAM?!” Louis yelled.   
“I’m fine!” he said loud enough for Louis to hear him. “Just taking a shower.”  
Liam finished his shower, dried himself up and changes into some fresh clothes. He opened the bathroom door and Louis nearly fell on top of him. “What the fuck?” Liam said, because he did not expect this. “Were you waiting in front of the door the whole time?”  
Louis shrugged. “Was just making sure...” he mumbled. “How are you?”  
Liam smiled. “I feel better.”  
Louis placed his hand on Liam’s forehead, frowning. “Your fever seems nearly gone,” he said. “For now.”  
“It won’t come back Lou’, seriously, I feel fine.”  
Louis still looked unsure because Liam was always fine in the Morning, especially after getting highly medicated yesterday night. He highly doubted that Liam’s illness just went away overnight, but he decided to watch Liam closely instead of just tucking him in again. The younger boy would just throw a fit, because he seemed really excited about finally being able to get out of bed.   
Louis watched as Liam joined Zayn on the big couch, laughing about something the older boy said. He was all good with Zayn, he was glad that Liam and him got on so well, but he would really prefer it if Liam actually talked to Zayn about his feelings instead of pretending to be all good with the situation and Zayn. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on their door.   
“Hi,” Harry grinned as soon as he saw Louis.   
“Hey.”  
“How’s Liam?” Niall asked.   
“I’m good, thanks!” Liam said, waving at Niall and Harry, before turning his attention back to Zayn.  
Harry gave Louis a confused look. “Was he magically healed? Is his fever gone?” he asked quietly.  
“Seems so,” Louis muttered. “I think the medication is still in his system. It’s strong enough to knock out a horse or so, I think it will wear off in the next hours.” he added, quietly enough for Liam not to hear.   
Harry nodded. “Yeah, as awesome as it would be, you can’t get over a bug like that overnight.” he mused, “What are we going to do?”  
Louis shrugged. “Wait.”  
And even if he knew that the medication would most likely wear off soon, he hoped that Liam would really stay fever-free.


	14. Chapter 14

Paddy sighed. “

 

Louis was really hopeful until Liam started to get quieter as the day went on. His final clue was when Liam broke down crying after reading an article about the show yesterday. Because yes, Liam was a crier, but never this hysterical and never about little things like this.   
“C’mon Li’, bedtime for you.”   
Liam shook his head. “I’m okay,” he sobbed.   
“You definitely aren’t.” Louis decided. “But you will be better after a good amount of sleep.”   
“Li’, you should really sleep.” Zayn said.   
Liam shrugged. “’M fine.”   
Zayn smiled. “Yeah sure Li’” he said. “Let’s make a deal: You lay down and try to sleep, if you can’t that’s fine, then you don’t have to. Just try yeah?”  
“Alright…” Liam mumbled. “I can try.”  
Zayn accompanied Liam to bed, making sure to take the sick boy’s temperature before he went to sleep while Harry turned to Louis. “I talked to Paddy and he told me that the doctor said it’s normal that the fever vanishes for a few hours after the meds before coming back full force. He also said that we should not be too worried if he does not get better in the next one or two days.”  
Louis nodded. Two days seemed like an awfully long time. “Sounds great.” he muttered.   
Zayn joined them. “He’s asleep,” he said smirking weakly. “But his temp is up to 39.4 again.”  
“Oh god,” Louis groaned. “He is never going to get well again.”  
Harry and Niall laughed at this and it made Louis feel a tiny bit better about this whole situation, because it could not be that bad when people were laughing right?   
Liam woke up two hours later and it was not pretty. He seemed completely out of it, barely recognizing his bandmates. “Who…?” he tried to ask Zayn, who was the first one by his side.   
“It’s Zayn Li’, don’t worry.”  
“No...” Liam whimpered. “Y’ not Z…”   
Zayn furrowed his eyebrows. “Course it’s me mate.”  
Liam let out a strangled sob which caused the rest of his bandmates to join the scene as well. “No… Z-Zayn’s gone… H-he left.”  
“I-“, Zayn started, but he did not seem interested in forming a real sentence.   
“It’s alright Liam, we are all here yeah? Zayn is here.” Harry said, being the first one to break the tense silence.   
Liam did not really react much to this, he just continued to shake his head. “H-he left…”  
Zayn looked at the other three boys, begging them to fix this somehow, because he could not stand this any longer. Harry patted his arm comfortingly, but it did not really help as long as Liam was still sobbing.   
“I want Lou’,” Liam cried out. “Where-“  
“I’m here,” Louis said quickly, “God I’m always here Li’”  
Liam continued to cry as he clung to Louis, who did his best to hold the boy tightly while trying to calm him down. “Please…” Liam whimpered over and over again, which was horrible considering that no one really knew what he was pleading for.   
“He is burning.” Louis said, alarmed by the heat Liam’s weak body was radiating.   
Harry’s eyes widened, “We forgot to give him the medicine this morning.”  
Niall groaned. “I will get them.”  
“Wait.” Harry said. “It’s already past 4 o’ clock in the afternoon, someone should ask Paddy if he can take it now and again in the evening or if this timespan is too short.”   
“I will do it!” Niall announced before running off.  
“This is getting better and better.” Zayn muttered quietly.   
Harry nodded thoughtfully. “You two are going to have a nice, long talk as soon as he gets better.” he said then.  
Zayn nodded. “I did not want this to happen,” he whispered. “I-… It’s almost like I broke him.”  
He gestured to Liam, who was still sobbing loudly into Louis’ shoulder and Harry shook his head. “I was hard for us – especially for Liam – yes, but I think the fever is what broke him mate.”  
Zayn sighed. “You know what I mean. Just because he was not this obvious before he got sick doesn’t mean that he did not feel as bad.”  
Harry did not respond because he did not quite know what. He knew that Zayn was kind of right, Liam was affected by his leave and they needed to talk about that. “Just… He is not mad at you Zayn. He is just a bit sad.” Harry decided to say, because Zayn looked ready to cry as well.   
Before Zayn could say anything, Niall came strolling in again with a bottle of orange juice. “Paddy said that he can’t take the meds now, if he did, he could not take them again in the evening and Paddy said that the pills would be more effective overnight.” he rumbled.   
Louis – who still held Liam tightly – groaned at this. “What else are we supposed to do? He won’t fall back asleep in the next hours and he’s not exactly well.”  
They all knew that `not exactly well´ was understated and Louis sounded honestly worried for Liam’s health as the younger boy continued to sob weakly into his shoulder.   
Niall bit his lip. “Paddy said he should drink this,” he said, holding up the bottle of orange juice. “To energize him a bit and stuff.”  
Harry nodded reluctantly because he knew Paddy was right – the dose of medicine right before Liam went to sleep really helped the younger boy through the night, which made it the most important one – but he also hated to see Liam suffer and he doubted that some juice could help him. At least he had stopped crying by now, just proceeding to cling onto Louis as if his life depended on it.   
“Well that’s just great isn’t it,” Louis scoffed. “Don’t worry Liam, you will be better in a minute because we will force some JUICE into your system.”  
Liam was not really following, he just noticed that Louis was kind of speaking with him and that the older boy sounded angry. Liam’s sick mind made a wrong conclusion at that and the boy swallowed pushing himself away from Louis even thought everything in him protested at this loss of comfort. “’M sorry,” he cried, and he was not sure what he did to make Louis angry but he apologized nonetheless.  
Louis looked shocked for a moment before realizing what Liam meant. He quickly embraced Liam again, not caring when the younger boy flinched a bit at first – Liam snuggled into the hug after a few seconds anyways – and tried to comfort Liam again. “Li’ no, you did nothing wrong yeah? I’m not mad at you at all. I’m so sorry.”  
Liam just hugged him tighter at this and Louis looked at the other boys. “He will be like that for the next four hours.” he said, like they could do anything about this.  
Harry sat down next to Liam and Louis on the bed. “What hurts Liam?”   
Liam shrugged. “’M head.” he whispered. Harry nodded, “Something else?”  
“Tummy.” Liam whimpered. Harry grimaced in sympathy. “Are you going to be sick?”  
“No,” Liam breathed. “Just hurts.”  
“We can work with that.” Harry announced. “I will make tea, Niall could get some ice and a cold cloth for his head, Zayn could may get a hot-water bottle for his stomach – ask someone if this will make his fever worse thought.”  
Louis nodded. “I will stay with him.”  
All of the boys separated into different directions after this, going to get everything they needed to help Liam at least a little bit.   
Zayn was the first one to be back, carrying a hot-water bottle and some movies. “I looked it up on the internet, hot-water bottles are fine. I also brought some DVDs.”  
Louis smiled weakly. “Nice.”  
Niall came in just seconds later. “I’ve got some ice!” he said loudly, causing Liam to flinch. “Sorry Li’”, Niall whispered. “I also brought a bowl with cold water and a cloth for his forehead.”  
“Thanks Niall,” Zayn smiled as Harry came into the room.  
“I’ve got some tea.” he said. “How is he holding up?”  
Louis shrugged. “He just keeps whimpering,” he mumbled. “I don’t know what to do.”  
Harry probed up the pillows on Liam’s bed and gestured to Liam and Louis to lay down against them while Zayn put ‘Toy story’ into the DVD-player. “Do you want tea or orange juice Li’?”  
“Tea please…” Liam mumbled weakly and Harry smiled warmly, turning around to get the cup, placing it on Liam’s nightstand.   
“It’s going to be a bit cold now Li’,” Niall said, placing the cold, wet cloth on Liam’s forehead. The sick boy sighed contently. “Do you want a hot-water bottle on your stomach mate?” Zayn asked. Liam nodded once. Zayn placed the bottle on Liam’s shirt and the thermometer under his tongue. “We need to get your temperature again too.”  
Liam laid his head on Louis’ chest, trying to focus on the movie while Louis tucked the blankets around them. The thermometer beeped, startling the sick boy a bit. Zayn chuckled, pulling it out of Liam’s mouth. “39.6,” he sighed. “But we will bring it down yeah?” Zayn added trying to sound as positive as possible. There was not much they could do really, so they all settled down somewhere and tried to concentrate on the movie they had watched so many times in the past, for once not complaining about it at all.  
They were about an hour into the film when Liam got a bit restless, tensing up and groaning slightly. “Li’?” Louis asked when the younger boy wrapped his arms around his stomach protectively. “What is it? You goin’ to be sick?”  
Liam shook his head. “No…” he groaned. “Just… a cramp… kinda- kinda hurt.”  
Louis sighed, wanting this stupid illness to be over already. “C’mere Li’, drink some tea.” he coaxed, offering Liam cup.   
“No,” Liam whimpered. “Don’t wanna put anything in there.” he mumbled, gesturing to his stomach.   
“Alright,” Louis said. “How can I help you then?”  
Liam shrugged, snuggling closer to Louis, hiding his burning hot head in his side. “I really don’t like this.”  
Louis heart broke. “I know Li’, me neither.”  
Harry met his gaze, “He did not have a stomachache before did he?”  
Louis shook his head slightly. “Did not mention it at least… Might be the lack of food in combination with the meds?”  
Harry nodded thoughtfully. “Might be yes…” he said, before his eyes went wide like he remembered something. “He got this awful stomachache when he was working out too much without eating proper meals remember? We thought he had appendicitis or something.”  
Louis nodded. “Yeah of course! How could I forget this? He got better after Paul forced him to eat something then.”  
“But he has no appetite.” Harry mumbled, gesturing to Liam who was curled up on Louis’ chest, his eyes locked on the TV.   
Louis bit his lip. “Well he HAS to eat something. Maybe one or two pieces of toast with butter?”  
“Could work.” Harry agreed and Louis shook Liam gently. “Liam, we need you to eat something.”  
Liam looked at him, shaking his head furiously. “No… stomach hurts.”  
Louis sighed – this was not going to be easy. “Please Li’, it will make it better yeah? We’ve been through this before haven’t we?”  
Liam continued to shake his head. “I don’t want to.”  
“Well you need to mate.” Louis insisted and Liam’s eyes watered. “No… Please…”  
Harry, who had finished buttering a piece of toast, came over with a plate. “Here you go Liam.”  
“NO!” Liam sobbed and Louis started to get really stressed out. “We are doing this to help you Liam, can you please just eat this fucking piece of toast?!”  
Liam swallowed hard, still shaking his head. They had the attention of the other two boys now too. “What’s going on?” Zayn asked.   
“Liam is being a little shit.” Louis said, making Liam’s eyes water again. He has not cried over something Louis said in ages, because he knew how the older boy ticked by now, but the fever made him delusional. “I don’t wanna eat…” Liam sobbed again.  
Zayn and Niall seemed to be a bit confused. “What?” Niall asked.   
“We figured that he always gets a stomachache if he doesn’t eat enough, so we tried to get him to eat something.” Harry explained.   
“Are you going to eat the toast now or what?” Louis asked and he really did not want to be this forceful and hard, but this whole situation was really getting on his nerves.   
Liam nodded miserably. “Ye-yeah…”  
Louis smiled warmly, making Liam feel better instantly. “That’s my boy.”


End file.
